Core sectors' growth slows to 20-mth low

New Delhi: The growth rate in the production of eight key sectors slowed down to a 20-month low of 0.1 per cent in October on account of contraction in the output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and cement, according to the official data released on Wednesday.

In October last year, these sectors expanded by 8.7 per cent. In September this year, the core sectors' output growth stood at 7.8 per cent. Last time it was in February 2021, when the eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- recorded a negative growth of 3.3 per cent. The growth rate during April-October this fiscal was 8.2 per cent as against 15.6 per cent a year ago.

In October, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and cement output recorded negative growth rate. However, fertiliser output rose by 5.4 per cent in the month under review. The growth rate in the production of coal, steel and electricity slowed down to 3.6 per cent, 4 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. These numbers have implications on the IIP (index of industrial production) data. The IIP data for October is expected to be released by the government in the second week of December. The eight core industries contribute 40.27 per cent in the IIP.