<p> The growth of eight core sectors slipped to over one-year low of 1% in February mainly due to decline in output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and cement.<br /><br />The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity was 9.4% in February 2016.<br /><br />The previous low of 0.9% was recorded in December 2015. In January 2017, these sectors grew by 3.4%.<br /><br />The core sectors, which contribute 38% to the total industrial production, expanded 4.4% in April-February this fiscal compared to 3.5% growth in the same period previous financial year, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Friday.<br /><br />Commenting on the data, rating agency Icra said: “We expect the IIP to post a subdued volume growth in February 2017.” However, coal and steel recorded positive growth during the month.<br /><br />The output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and cement contracted by 3.4%, 1.7%, 2.3%, 5.3% and 15.8%, respectively during the month under review.<br /><br /></p>
<p> The growth of eight core sectors slipped to over one-year low of 1% in February mainly due to decline in output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and cement.<br /><br />The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity was 9.4% in February 2016.<br /><br />The previous low of 0.9% was recorded in December 2015. In January 2017, these sectors grew by 3.4%.<br /><br />The core sectors, which contribute 38% to the total industrial production, expanded 4.4% in April-February this fiscal compared to 3.5% growth in the same period previous financial year, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Friday.<br /><br />Commenting on the data, rating agency Icra said: “We expect the IIP to post a subdued volume growth in February 2017.” However, coal and steel recorded positive growth during the month.<br /><br />The output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and cement contracted by 3.4%, 1.7%, 2.3%, 5.3% and 15.8%, respectively during the month under review.<br /><br /></p>