Core sector growth at 5% in May

The six core infrastructure industries posted 5% growth in May compared to the same period last fiscal, giving optimism that the country’s overall robust industrial expansion is well on track. The infrastructure industries, which have a combined weight of 26.7% in the overall factory output, grew 3.2% in May last year. However, the May figures are a tad lower that their respective April numbers as the six key sectors—crude, coal, petroleum refining, electricity, cement and finished steel — had posted a growth of 5.4% in April this year. The growth in the infrastructure sector was led by petroleum refinery output, which rose by a robust 7.7% in May, against a negative 4.3% growth in the corresponding month last year. Crude oil production also rose 5.8% against a negative growth of 4.3% in the same month last year, while electricity generation more than doubled to 6.4% from 3% last year. However, finished steel grew slightly lower at 2.5% in the reporting month against 2.8% in the same month last year and coal production also slowed to 0.1% against an expansion of 10.4% in May last year.