Dec core sector growth recovers to 1.3% on higher coal, fertiliser output

Production of crude oil, natural gas, and electricity contracted in the month under review

Growth of eight core industries recovered to 1.3 per cent in December 2019 after remaining in the negative zone in the previous four months helped by expansion in the production of coal, fertiliser and refinery products.

The growth was, however, lower than 2.1 per cent recorded in December 2018.

Production of crude oil, natural gas, and electricity contracted in the month under review.

Sectors which recorded positive growth were coal, refinery products and fertiliser.

However, growth rate of steel and cement sectors slowed down to 1.9 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.

During the April-December period, core industries recorded growth of 0.2 per cent against 4.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

The eight core sectors recorded negative growth in the four months to November 2019.

Commenting on the data, ICRA Ltd said: "Despite the pickup in the core sector performance, we expect the IIP growth to dip in December 2019 from the initial 1.8 per cent in November 2019, led by the wider contraction in auto output as well as the YoY decline in non oil merchandise exports after a gap of two months".

These eight sectors comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.