Key infra sectors’ development contracts 1.8% in August

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The expansion in manufacturing of eight key infrastructure sectors contracted 1.8% in August this 12 months because of a decline within the output of coal, crude oil, pure gasoline, refinery merchandise, cement and electrical energy, based on official knowledge launched on Monday (September 30, 2024).

Fertilisers and Metal manufacturing grew however at a milder tempo than July, when core sectors’ output rose 6.1%.

The expansion of core sectors — coal, crude oil, pure gasoline, refinery merchandise, fertiliser, metal, cement and electrical energy — was 13.4 per cent in August 2023.

Coal and electrical energy output recorded their first contraction in not less than 13 months, declining 8.1% and 5%, respectively, in August. 

Pure gasoline manufacturing shrank 3.6%, marking the second successive month of contraction. Crude oil output fell for the third straight month, with the tempo of contraction deepening to three.4%.

Cement manufacturing fell 3%, the worst efficiency in 9 months, whereas refinery merchandise declined 1%, the second decline in three months.

The Index of Core Industries (ICI), which constitutes about 40% of the broader index of India’s industrial output (IIP), stood at 155.8 in August, marking a 3rd consecutive month of sequential decline, and was 4.2% under July ranges. In July, the ICI was up 6.1% on a year-on-year foundation.