After a robust 8 per cent rise in September, the eight core industries’ output contracted 0.6 per cent in October, dashing hopes of any big spike in factory output growth for October 2013, due to be released in mid-December.

The eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — had recorded a 7.8 per cent growth in output in October last year. In April-October 2013, the core industries’ output grew 2.6 per cent, lower than 6.8 per cent growth recorded in same period last fiscal, official data released on Monday showed.

The October performance was weighed down by contraction in coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products. However, fertilisers, cement, steel and electricity put in a reasonably good performance for the month under review. The eight core industries’ have a weightage of about 38 per cent in the index of industrial production.

PTI adds: Commenting on the core sector data, Crisil’s Chief Economist D.K. Joshi, said the performance of the sector was likely to remain subdued in the coming months as well. According to the data released on Monday, natural gas output contracted 13.6 per cent in October year-on-year, while coal production declined 3.9 per cent. Crude oil output was also poor with 0.8 per cent fall in the month under review, while petroleum refinery production declined 4.8 per cent. Among the sectors that put up a good performance was fertiliser, which registered a growth of 4.1 per cent, while steel production grew at 3.5 per cent.

>srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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