New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) India’s industrial output grew by 6.5 percent in October, on account of double-digit growth in production of petroleum refinery products and of the coal sector, government data showed Friday.
Eight core industries that have a combined weight of 37.90 percent in the index of industrial production (IIP) had logged a positive growth of only 0.40 percent in the corresponding month of 2011.
The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity.
“The modest growth in October 2012 was on account of double-digit growth witnessed in the production of petroleum refinery products and coal,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
The core industries’ output contracted 0.4 percent in September, dragged down by deceleration in production in manufacturing, capital and consumer durables. The IIP had logged a 5.1 percent growth in August, led by double-digit growth in coal and petroleum refinery products.
According to data released by the commerce and industry ministry, the cumulative growth of the core industries during the April-October 2012-13 period was 3.7 percent percent as compared to 4.3 percent growth registered during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The growth of core industries during April-September 2012-13 period was 0.1 percent as compared to 5.1 percent growth registered during the corresponding period of 2011-12.
Among the sectors, petroleum refinery products, which have a weightage of 5.94 percent, was up by 20.3 percent in the month under review from a decline of 2.9 percent in the like period of 2011.
During the April-October period, the refinery products sector grew by 7.3 percent from a slump of 3.5 percent in corresponding period of last fiscal.
The coal sector, which has 4.38 percent weight in the IIP, registered a growth of 7.3 percent in October this year as compared to an 8.8 percent decline during the corresponding month of the previous year. During the April-October period, the sector grew by 8.7 percent from downturn of 5.4 percent in corresponding period of last fiscal.
The electricity sector, however, slowed down marginally at 5.2 percent compared to 5.3 percent during the year-ago period.
