Core sector growth slows to 1.6% in January

Poor output of coal, petroleum refinery products and natural gas dragged down core sector growth to 1.6 per cent in January from 8.3 per cent in the same month a year ago.

The Index of Eight Core Industries grew 2.1 per cent in December.

The eight core industries-fertilisers, cement, steel, electricity, crude oil, coal, petroleum refinery products and natural gas- have a combined weight of about 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Core sector growth was 2.4 per cent during the April-January period of this financial year compared with 6.9 per cent in the same period of 2012-13.

Coal output contracted 0.7 per cent in January. Petroleum refinery production registered a fall of 4.5 per cent and natural gas output shrank 5.2 per cent.

Steel output growth slowed to 3.4 per cent, while the expansion in cement production eased to 1.5 per cent. Crude oil registered a growth of 3 per cent and electricity generation expanded 5.7 per cent.

Dashing hopes of a recovery, the IIP contracted by 0.6 per cent in December mainly due to poor performance in the manufacturing sector.