Growth in eight core sector industries slows to 1.7% in Nov

Growth slows to 1.7%, the poor growth is due to poor showing by natural gas, fertiliser and petroleum refinery sectors

Crucial eight infrastructure industries saw a rise in production in November after a contraction in the  previous month. However, the growth stood muted at just 1.7 per cent, official data on Tuesday showed. Production of these industries declined 0.6 per cent in October this year and rose 5.8 per cent in November, 2012.

Core sector industries showed that industrial growth may also not rise drastically in November since these sectors constitute 39 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Besides, exports also registered a single digit growth of over five  per cent in November, after clocking a double-digit expansion for the previous four months.

"The sub-two per cent core sector growth combined with the moderation in growth of merchandise exports... suggest that industrial growth remained muted in November, 2013," ICRA senior economist Aditi Nayar said.

Industrial growth remained flat, refusing to grow even a bit in the first seven months  of the  current financial year, against 1.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2012-13.

However, only two industries  out of eight -- natural gas and refinery production -- saw a decline in their production in November, against five in October.

Month	Nov-12	Dec-12	Jan-13	Feb-13	Mar-13	April'13	May'13	June'13	July'13	Aug'13	Sept'13	Oct'13	Nov'13
Core Sector Growth (%)	5.8	2.9	3.7	-2.4	3.2	2.3	2.3	0.1	3.1	3.7	8	-0.6	1.7
Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Besides core sector comprises  coal, crude oil, natural gas, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.

Coal production rose 2.3 per cent in November against a contraction of 3.9 per cent in the previous month, while electricity generation grew 5.9 per cent against an increase of 1.3 per cent.

"The improvement in coal availability boosted thermal electricity generation," Nayar said.