Core sectors grow to 7-mth high of 3.7%

 A good show by power, fertiliser, cement and steel sectors have pushed the growth of eight key infrastructure industries to a seven-month high of 3.7 per cent in August as against 3.1 per cent last month.

 The growth of the core sectors was, however, lower as compared to 6.1 per cent recorded in the same month last year, according to the official data released on Monday.
 The core industries, which also include coal, natural gas, refinery products and crude oil, having a weight of about 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew at 3.7 per cent January this year. The growth in output of the core sectors remained below this mark till July.

 During the April-August period of 2013-14 fiscal, the growth of core industries has slowed to 2.3 per cent from 6.3 per cent in the same period during 2012-13.

 Power generation grew by 6.7 per cent in August as against a meagre 1.9 per cent in the same month last year. It registered a cumulative growth of 4.1 per cent during April to August this fiscal, compared to 4.9 per cent in the same period in 2012-13.

 The output of steel also grew by 4.3 per cent in August as compared to 2.9 per cent in the same month last year. The production was up by 4.1 per cent in April-August period, compared to 2.8 per cent in same period in previous fiscal.

During the April-August period, crude oil production declined by 1.6 per cent as compared to a contraction of 0.6 per cent in the output. The output of natural gas in the five month period contracted 17 per cent as compared to decline in production by 12 per cent in same period last year.