India's November core sector growth at 7.8%, Apr-Nov fiscal deficit at 50.7% of FY24 target

The output of eight infrastructure sectors registered a growth of 7.8 per cent in November, the slowest in six months, showed government data released on Friday.

India's fiscal deficit for the first eight months of the financial year, which started April 1, was Rs 9.07 lakh crore, or 50.7 per cent of the estimate for the whole year, government data showed on Friday.

India is likely to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY24, MoS Finance Bhagwat Karad said earlier this month.

Core sector growth in October was 12.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent in November 2022, according to the official data released on Friday.

All sectors except crude oil and cement recorded healthy production growth in the month under review.

The core sector (coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity) growth in October was 12 per cent.

Coal and refinery products output recorded double-digit growth.

The output growth of eight sectors was 8.6 per cent in April-November 2023-24 against 8.1 per cent in the year-ago period.