Core Sector Growth Slows to 6.6% in July

Core sector growth slowed marginally in July from the month before but still marked a strong start to the second quarter in the world’s fastest growing major economy.

The Index of Eight Core Industries, which measures the output of eight infrastructure industries, rose 6.6% in July against an upward revised 7.6% in June. The core sector had grown 2.9% in July 2017, suggesting a positive base effect for July this year.

The eight infrastructure sectors in the index are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. Five of them recorded slower sequential growth.

The eight core sector industries constitute 40.27% of the Index of Industrial Production, which grew at a five-month high of 7% in June. Electricity output rose 4.8% in July compared with 8.4% in June. Coal output grew 9.7% against 11.8% (marginally revised upwards from 11.5%) in June. Natural gas production declined 5.2% and crude output fell 5.4%.

Refinery products output rose 12.3% and steel production increased 6% from 3.4% in June. Cement production rose 10.8% against 13.2 % in June.