Core industries' output nears year-ago level in September

BT NewsFlicks

Core industries' output nears year-ago level in September

  • 1/7

The index of core industries (ICI) continued its recovery streak in September 2020. It rose from 119.1 in August to 119.7 in September, nearly touching its year-ago level. The year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction in the ICI has been reducing for the last five months, from 37.9 per cent in April to 21.4 per cent in May and 12.4 per cent in June.

  • 2/7

For the first time during the current fiscal, coal output recorded double digit y-o-y growth of 21.2 per cent in September. The growth, however, is not as impressive as it appears, as it has come after a 20.5 per cent contraction in coal output in September 2019 caused by floods in Bihar.

  • 3/7

Crude oil and natural gas production contracted y-o-y by 6.1 per cent and 10.6 per cent, respectively, in September 2020. These industries have been suffering from supply-side inefficiencies for many years. September 2020 was no exception to this.

  • 4/7

The fertiliser industry had a good run this year, clocking volumes of 21.6 million tonnes during April-September 2020, the highest since 2011. This was owing to timely arrival of monsoon and a promising Kharif season. But, in September 2020, the output fell y-o-y by 0.3 per cent.

  • 5/7

Steel production returned to grow in September 2020, albeit at a marginal 0.9 per cent, after suffering y-o-y contraction for six months in a row. Domestic demand for steel picked up owing to a surge in production of automobiles and consumer durables to meet the pent-up demand and also fresh festive demand.

  • 6/7

Cement production fell by 3.5 per cent in September 2020, as compared to the same month a year-ago. The fall, however, was the lowest recorded in the last seven months. The improvement can be attributed to higher demand from rural and semi-urban areas, a pick-up in residential property sales coupled with return of labourers to large cities and a 60 per cent y-o-y jump in projects awarded by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) during April-September 2020 to build 1,330 km of highways.

  • 7/7

With ample supply of coal stock, electricity generation recorded a y-o-y growth of 3.7 per cent in September 2020. The growth came on top of a 2.6 per cent fall registered in the year-ago period. The fuel source-wise break-up available from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) shows that the growth was entirely driven by thermal power generation. Shivani Sharma, Mohsin Shaikh