Covid-19 impact: India's eight core sectors output contracts 23.4% in May

Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal, crude oil and electricity and accounts for nearly 40% of the country's industrial output, contracted 30% in April and May

The output of eight core infrastructure industries shrank by 23.4 per cent in May due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, according to the official data.

The eight core sectors had expanded by 3.8 per cent in May 2019, the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Tuesday showed.

Barring fertiliser, all seven sectors - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity - had recorded negative growth in May.

During April-May 2020-21, the sectors output dipped by 30 per cent as compared to 4.5 per cent in the same period previous year.

"In view of nationwide lockdown during April and May 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, various industries - Coal, Cement, Steel, Natural Gas, Refinery, Crude Oil etc experienced substantial loss of production," the ministry said in a statement.

These eight industries accounts for 40.27 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).