Eight core sectors grow by 6.6% in July

Eight core sectors grew by 6.6 per cent in July pushed by healthy output in coal, refinery products, cement and fertiliser.

The eight core sector -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- had registered a growth of 2.9 per cent in July last year.

The output of coal, refinery products, fertiliser and cement grew by 9.7 per cent, 12.3 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively in July 2018.

However, growth rate in production of crude oil and natural gas recorded negative growth in the month of July.

On the other hand, steel sector expansion came down to 6 per cent, as against 9.4 per cent in July 2017.

During the April-July period of the current fiscal, these 8 sectors grew by 5.8 per cent as against 2.6 per cent in the year-ago period.

In June, they grew by 7.6 per cent.