Core Sectors

A sharp rebound in coal, higher iron ore output and strong refinery growth lifted core sector expansion to 7.9% in September, even as three of the nine industries contracted.

Coal output contracted 9.3 per cent in May, marking a 10-month low, while growth in petroleum refinery products slumped to a 42- month low of -8.7 per cent

India's core sector growth rose to 1.7% in April FY27, aided by steel, electricity and fertilizer recovery despite pressure from the West Asia crisis and energy supply disruptions

Production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors rose 1.7 per cent in April, driven by higher output of steel, cement and electricity, according to government data released on Wednesday. These eight sectors expanded by 1 per cent in the same month last year. The pace of expansion was 1.2 per cent in March. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and fertiliser output recorded negative growth during the month under review.

The core sector output contracted by 0.4 per cent in March, marking the first decline in five months as production of coal, crude oil, fertiliser, and electricity fell, according to official data released on Monday. In February 2026, the eight core infrastructure sectors had expanded by 2.8 per cent. In 2025-26, these sectors recorded a growth rate of 2.6 per cent as against 4.5 per cent in 2024-25.

Output growth in the core sectors, that constitute about 40 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), halved to 2.3 per cent in February from 4.7 per cent in January

Production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors slowed down to 2.3 per cent in February from 3.4 per cent in the same month last year, according to government data. Production of crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products declined during the month. During April-February, the cumulative production growth in infrastructure sectors was 2.9 per cent, compared with 4.4 per cent in the same period of the last financial year.

India's eight key infrastructure sectors' output slowed down to 4 per cent in January, according to official data released on Friday. It was 5.1 per cent in January 2025 and 4.7 per cent in December 2025. Crude oil and natural gas output recorded negative growth in January. During the April-January period of this fiscal, the output of these sectors grew by 2.8 per cent against 4.5 per cent recorded during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that cement, steel, fertilisers and coal registered positive growth, while crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and electricity recorded declines

In August 2024, ICI had declined to -1.3 per cent. For the first five months (April-August) of the current financial year, growth stood at 2.9 per cent against 4.72 per cent last year

Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra, said that while an elevated base weighed upon coal output, excess rains in the latter half of June impacted electricity generation

Refinery products saw positive growth of 3.4 per cent. Similarly, the steel and cement sectors recorded growth of 9.3 per cent and 9.2 per cent, respectively

April growth slowed due to contraction in refinery and fertiliser output, high base effect; only coal and natural gas posted gains among eight core industries

On a monthly basis, the growth rate in the production of these sectors was lower than the 5.1 per cent expansion recorded in January

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The key infrastructure sectors' output had expanded by 4.8 per cent in December 2024

The contraction can be attributed to a high base as well as monsoon impacting industrial activity. The growth in the output was 6.1 per cent in July 2024 and 13.4 per cent in August 2023

Compared to July 2023, six sectors recorded a decline in output growth. The growth rate in coal (6.8 per cent) was the lowest in 13 months

Exemption from BCD on import of certain minerals to be used in strategic sectors such as telecommunication, space, high-tech electronics, etc

Core sector growth rose to 6.1 per cent YoY in Apr'24 over Apr'23, as every sector except fertilisers and cement saw strong growth