The output of eight core industries grew 2.6 per cent in December 2012, lower than the 4.9 per cent growth recorded in December 2011.
The December 2012 performance is, however, better than the 1.8 per cent growth seen in November 2012.
The overall output performance was weighed down by a decline in output of coal, natural gas and fertilisers, both of which had recorded positive growth in December 2011.
Steel and electricity saw deceleration in growth rates in December 2012, compared with the growth trend in the same month last year. Refinery products’ output saw a higher growth rate than the level recorded in December 2011.
The eight core industries – coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, steel, cement and electricity – have weightage of 37.90 per cent in the index of industrial production (IIP).
For the April-December 2012 period, the cumulative core sector growth rate stood at 3.3 per cent, lower than the 4.8 per cent growth seen in the same period last year, official data released on Thursday said.
The lower-than-expected growth rate of 2.6 per cent for December 2012 is likely to cast a shadow over the IIP numbers for December, which are expected in mid-February.
But industrial output growth for December 2012 is expected to be better than the 0.1 per cent IIP growth seen in November last year.
The lower overall growth in eight core industries in December is largely attributed to the decline in coal output (-0.2 per cent), natural gas production (-14.9 per cent).
While steel production grew 5.2 per cent in December 2012, fertiliser production declined 3.8 per cent.
In December 2011, steel output grew 10.2 per cent and fertilisers output grew 0.8 per cent.