India's core sector growth drops to a 16-month low of 3.5% in November

Muted rise in cement production and electricity generation, apart from high base effect to blame

Growth in the eight core sectors of the economy fell to a 16-month low of 3.5 per cent in November, after it had hit a three-month high of 4.8 per cent in October.

Economists blamed an unfavourable base effect, along with a sudden slowdown in the growth of cement production and electricity output for bringing down the overall growth rate of the core sectors. Contributing 40 per cent to the total industrial production, output of the core sectors has increasingly focused on cement production, led by rising construction activity across the country.

“Growth has been driven by the government spending on infra.