3.6.09

Bounce Back?



In a clear sign of economic recovery, the growth rate of core sectors like cement, finished steel, coal and electricity nearly doubled to 4.3% during April 2009 as against 2.3% in the same period last year, when the economy was booming and was not affected by the global slowdown. “April figures are very encouraging. But we are still in the recovery stage,’’ said Saumitra Chaudhuri, member of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council. The output of six core sectors has over 26% weight in the Index of Industrial Production. The recovery was noticed in coal, cement, electricity and steel sectors. “This is certainly positive news,’’ Chaudhuri said, adding that the performance of the cement sector indicates that construction is performing well. The output of cement in April went up by 11.7% compared to 6.9% during the corresponding month last fiscal. Commenting on the core sector’s performance during April, Planning Commission member Anwarul Hoda said, “We seem to be going out of economic slowdown.’’ Regarding the 1.6% growth in the finished output of steel as against a contraction by 0.6% in the same period last year, Chaudhuri said, “Growth in steel compared to the second half of the last year is good. This is a passing phase and some improvement is still needed.’’ Coal production registered a growth rate of 13.2% during the month as compared to 10.4% in the corresponding period last year. Similarly, electricity generation increased by 6% in April’09 against 1.4%. Crude oil production, however, remained in the negative zone as it dipped by 3.1% in April from 1% a year ago. Production in petroleum refinery products too dipped by 4.3% in April. The six core industries registered a growth rate of 2.7% in 2008-09 as against 5.9% in 2007-08. The output of coal during 2008-09 went up by 7.7% compared to 6.3% in 2007-08. Cement production grew by 7.5% during the last fiscal compared to an increase of 8.1% in 2007-08. Electricity generation grew by 2.7% in 2008-09 compared to 6.3% in the previous fiscal. Finished steel recorded growth of 0.4% only during the last fiscal as compared to 6.2% increase in 2007-08.

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