Eight core industries up 5.8 percent in August

Eight core industries such as coal, electricity, crude oil, cement and steel, grew at 5.8 percent in August this year, compared to 4.7 percent during the corresponding month of last year, official data showed Tuesday.

The index of eight core industries with a combined weightage of 37.90 percent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2004-05 stood at 165.1 in the month under review, the ministry of commerce and industry said in a statement.

Electricity generation, which has 10.32 percent weightage in the IIP, grew 12.6 percent in August 2014 as compared to 7.1 percent in the same month of the previous year.

Cement production grew 10.3 percent and steel production was up 9.1 percent. Coal sector zoomed 13.4 percent from 6.1 percent in the corresponding month of last year.

However, four out of the eight core industries registered negative growth in August.

Crude oil output was lower 4.9 percent in the month under review, natural gas production fell 8.3 percent, fertilizers output was down 4.3 percent.

Petroleum and refinery products fell 4.3 percent.

The IIP, the barometer for measuring industrial output, had increased by a marginal 0.5 percent in July.

The IIP data for August is yet to be released.