New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Growth in eight core industries fell to 2.2 percent in April as compared to 4.2 percent registered during the corresponding month of previous year, due to drop in the output of oil, gas, fertiliser and petroleum refinery products, official data showed Thursday.
During the financial year 2011-12, the cumulative growth rate of the core industries was 4.4 percent as against their growth at 6.6 percent in 2010-11.
The eight core industries — crude oil, petroleum refinery products, natural gas, fertilisers, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel — had registered a growth of 2 percent in March.
Output of natural gas fell by 11.3 percent, crude oil production declined by 1.3 percent, fertiliser output dropped by 9.3 percent and Petroleum refinery production dipped by 2.8 percent in April 2012, according to data released by the ministry of commerce and industry here.
Electricity generation, which has 10.32 percent weight in the Index of Industrial Production, registered a slower growth of 4.6 percent in April 2012 as compared to 6.4 percent in the same month of last year. Electricity sector registered a growth of 8.1 percent in 2011-12 as compared to 5.6 percent in the previous fiscal.
Cement production grew by 8.6 percent, steel output increased by 5.8 percent and coal production increased by 3.8 percent in the month under review.
