Core industries output surges 4.2% in April

Buoyed by higher fertiliser, cement and electricity production, the eight core industries’ output grew 4.2 per cent in April this year.

This was higher than the output growth of 3.7 per cent recorded in same month last fiscal, official data released on Monday showed.

Higher growth rate The latest spurt was also higher than the 2.5 per cent increase recorded by these eight core industries’ in March this year.

The eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — have a combined weight of 38 per cent in the index of industrial production.

In April, electricity production increased 11.2 per cent, fertilisers 11.1 per cent, cement 6.7 per cent and coal 3.3 per cent. All these respective growth rates recorded a faster pace than a year earlier. Crude oil, natural gas and petroleum refinery product sectors contracted 0.1 per cent, 7.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively in April.

Steel output in April grew 3.1 per cent (10.1 per cent).