Buoyed by higher crude petroleum and steel production, the index of the six ‘core' infrastructure industries have registered a 7.4 per cent annual growth in March, compared with 6.8 per cent for the same month of last year.
For the fiscal ending March as a whole, the growth rate for the six industries – having a combined 26.68 per cent weight in the official index of industrial production – worked out to 5.9 per cent, which was better than the 5.5 per cent during 2009-10.
Crude oil output recorded a 12.1 per cent year-on-year jump in March, as against 3.5 per cent in the same month of 2009-10, with these corresponding amounting to 9.9 per cent (7.7 per cent) for finished steel.
Refined petro-products and electricity production, too, notched up respectable growth rates of 8.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively during the month, over and above their corresponding March 2010 levels of minus 1.1 per cent and 7.9 per cent. However, cement (6.5 per cent versus 7.8 per cent) and coal (minus 1.2 per cent versus eight per cent) showed deceleration.
During the entire 2010-11, the country generated 811,142.8 million units of electricity, marking a 5.6 per cent jump over the 768,428.7 million units during the previous fiscal.
The corresponding cumulative output numbers were 526.20 million tonnes (mt) and 526.28 mt for coal (nil growth); 215.98 mt and 206.63 mt (up 4.5 per cent) for cement; 37.712 mt and 33.69 mt (up 11.9 per cent) for crude petroleum; 153.311 mt and 148.831 mt (up three per cent) for refined petro-products; and 61.799 mt and 57.093 mt (up 8.2 per cent) for finished steel.