Core sector growth slows to 1.4% in Feb

Growth in eight core industries slowed to 1.4 per cent in February due to output decline in five sectors including crude oil and natural gas.
Besides these two, the other three sectors which posted negative growth are refinery products, fertiliser and steel.
The output of eight core sector industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, steel, cement and electricity - expanded by 6.1 per cent in February, 2014.
The growth was 1.8 per cent in January 2015.
The core sector contributes 38 per cent to the overall industrial production, a parameter that the Reserve Bank takes into account while framing its monetary policy.

Production of crude oil and natural gas contracted by 1.9 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
However, coal, cement and electricity output grew by 11.6 per cent, 2.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively.
During the April-February period of 2014-15, the eight sectors grew by 3.8 per cent as against 4.2 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal.