Infra sector growth improves to 4.7 pc in Mar

The growth of eight core sectors improved marginally to 4.7 per cent in March 2019 against 4.5 per cent in the same month last year.

For the full 2018-19 fiscal, the expansion rate of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- remained flat at 4.3 per cent, official data released Tuesday showed.

Coal generation growth was flat at 9.1 pet cent in March 2019. Natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel and cement sectors recorded positive growth rates.

Crude oil production, however, contracted by 6.2 per cent in March. Electricity generation declined by 1.4 per cent during the month under review.

A fall in production of crude oil and refinery products had dragged the growth of the eight core sectors to 2.1 per cent in February.

The infrastructure sector growth will also have an impact on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as these segments account for about 41 per cent of the total factory output.