Core sector output shrinks to 5.2% in Sept indicating severity of slowdown

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Output of eight core infrastructure industries contracted by 5.2 per cent in September, the lowest in the decade, indicating the severity of economic slowdown. As many as seven of eight core industries saw a contraction in output in September.

Coal production fell steeply by 20.5 per cent, crude oil by 5.4 per cent, and natural gas by 4.9 per cent. Refinery products (-6.7 per cent), cement (- 2.1 per cent), steel (-0.3 per cent), and electricity (-3.7 per cent) output too declined. The only infrastructure segment to post growth in September was fertilisers where production increased by 5.4 per cent year-on-year.

The eight core sectors had expanded by 4.3 per cent in September 2018, according to official data released on Thursday. During the April-September period, the growth of core industries fell to 1.3 per cent against 5.5 per cent in the year-ago period. Commenting on the data, India Ratings and Research, said that such low growth in core sector industries has not been witnessed so far in either 2011-12 base or 2004-05 base series.