India's output of eight core industries grew 9.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in July as all sectors except crude oil registered an increase in output. On a month-on-month basis, output rose 5.4 per cent in July after growing 1.5 per cent in June. The output of core sectors had registered a 7.6 per cent decline in July 2020 due to COVID-19 related restrictions. The cement sector registered the highest YoY growth of 21.8 per cent in July 2021, followed by natural gas at 18.9 per cent and coal at 18.7 per cent. Steel production grew 9.3 per cent, while electricity generation rose 9 per cent during the month, government data showed. Petroleum refinery production grew 6.7 per cent in July, while fertiliser production increased 0.5 per cent. Meanwhile, crude oil production saw a 3.2 per cent decline in output. Also Read: India records Q1 FY22 GDP growth at 20.1% on low base, improved manufacturing
The output of core industries grew 21.2 per cent during the April-July period of 2021-22 as against a decline of 19.8 per cent during the same period a year ago. The onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide lockdown announced by the government in March last year to curb the spread of infections had hit industrial production during the April-July period of 2020. The government also revised the final growth rate of core sector output for April 2021 to 62.6 per cent from its provisional level of 56.1 per cent. The eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
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