Core sector output shrinks by 6.5% in March amid coronavirus lockdown

March performance is worst in current series

The output of India's eight core sectors contracted by a record 6.5 per cent in March, after 7.1 per cent growth in the previous month, as many factories shut down and production came to a virtual halt amid the coronavirus lockdown.
 

The latest broad-based decline meant that core sector output in 2019-20 dropped to just 0.6 per cent, down from the 4.4 per cent growth seen in the previous year.
 

“The core sector contraction in March 2020 represents the worst performance in the current series. With the lockdown in place throughout April 2020, which is expected to have severely curtailed