Core sector grows 5% in May

The six core infrastructure industries grew 5 per cent in May against 3.2 per cent in the same month last year.

However, on a monthly basis, the key sectors --crude, petroleum refining, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel--showed a decline as they had expanded by 5.4 per cent in April 2010.

While crude oil production rose 5.8 per cent in May against a negative growth of 4.3 per cent in the same month last year, finished steel grew slightly lower at 2.5 per cent against 2.8 per cent in the same month last year, an official statement said today.

Petroleum refinery output, too, grew by a robust 7.7 per cent, against a negative 4.3 per cent in the year-ago month. But coal production slowed to 0.1 per cent in the reporting month against an expansion of 10.4 per cent in same month last year.

As per the data, cement output also slowed down to 8.6 per cent against a smart 11.8 per cent in May last year. But electricity generation more than doubled at 6.4 per cent from 3 per cent last year.

In the first two months of the current financial year, the six core sectors, which have 26.7 per cent combined weight on the the overall industrial production, registered a growth 5.1 per cent against 3.5 per cent in the same period last year.