Eight Indian core industries' September output up 5.2%

The output of India's eight major industries continues to expand, rising 5.2 per cent in September, from a rise of 4.4 per cent during the previous month, official data showed on Tuesday.

Year-on-year there was a marginal fall with the Index of Eight Core Industries (ECI), representing the output of major industrial sectors like coal, steel, cement and electricity, having risen by 5.3 per cent in the corresponding month of the previous year.

"The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 122.5 in September 2017, which was 5.2 per cent higher compared to the index of September 2016," a Commerce Ministry statement said.

Relecting the impact of demonetisation, however, the core industries' cumulative growth for the first half of the current fiscal fell to 3.3 per cent as compared to the 5.4 per cent jump in ECI during the same period last year.

"Its cumulative growth during April to September 2017-18 was 3.3 per cent," the ministry said in the summary of the ECI for first half of the fiscal.

The ECI index carries 40.27 per cent weightage of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which is the macro-gauge for India's factory output.

On a sector-specific basis, refinery production, which has the highest weightage of 28.03 per cent, grew by 8.1 per cent in September 2017 as compared with the corresponding month of last year.

Electricity generation, which has the second highest weightage of 19.85, rose by 5.2 per cent.

Steel production, the third most important component with weightage of 17.92, increased by 3.7 per cent during the month under review, while coal mining, with a 10.33 weightage, rose by 10.6 per cent.

Extraction of crude oil, which has an 8.98 weightage, increased marginally by 0.1 per cent during the month under consideration.

Cement production too, which has a weightage of 5.37, increased only by 0.1 per cent in September.

On the other hand, the sub-index for natural gas output, with a weightage of 6.88, stood higher by 6.3 per cent.

Fertiliser manufacturing, which has the least weightage -- only 2.63 -- fell by a sharp 7.7 per cent during the month in question.

--IANS

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