New Delhi, Dec 29 (UNI) Driven primarily by coal and refinery products, India’s core sector comprising of eight key infrastructure components grew 7.8% in November 2023 as against 12.1% in the previous month.
“The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 7.8 per cent (provisional) in November 2023 as compared to the Index of November 2022,” an official release from Ministry of Commerce & Industry said on Friday.
As per the official data, production of coal, electricity, fertilizers, natural gas, refinery products and steel recorded positive year-on-year growth in November 2023.
Production of crude oil and cement contracted in the month of November 2023.
The ICI measures combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries viz. cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilizers, natural gas, refinery products and steel. The eight core industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
“On average, the core sector expanded by nearly 10% in October-November 2023, an encouraging sign. Given the larger number of factory holidays, we anticipate a modest 2-4% rise in the IIP in November 2023,” said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist at research and rating firm ICRA.
The official data showed cement production decreased by 3.6% in November, 2023 over November, 2022 while coal production increased by 10.9% during the same period.
Crude Oil production decreased by 0.4% year-on-year in November, 2023 while electricity generation increased by 5.6% during this period.
Fertilizer production was up 3.4% in November 2023, over November 2022.
Production of natural gas, refinery products and steel increased by 7.6%, 12.4% and 9.1% respectively in November 2023.
