Due to contraction in production of crude oil, natural gas and fertilisers, the growth in eight core sector industries slowed to 1.8 per cent in July, the lowest in the last nine months.
The growth in key infrastructure industries was 8.2 per cent in July last year.
During April-July period, the cumulative growth rate of the core industries slowed to 3.2 per cent against 6.0 per cent during the corresponding period last year.
Growth in fertiliser and natural gas further contracted at (-) 2.2 per cent and (-) 13.5 per cent, respectively, against (-) 1.6 per cent and (-) 8.2 per cent in July 2011.
Compared with 1.4 per cent growth in July 2011, crude oil production was in negative zone in July 2012 at (-) 0.7 per cent.
There was sharp decline in growth rates of steel, cement and electricity. Steel and cement production slowed to 4.5 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively, in July 2012 against 16.5 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, in the year-ago period.
Electricity generation, too, shrunk to 2.2 per cent in the month under review compared with 13.0 per cent growth in July 2011.
A marginal moderation was observed in coal production at 2.1 per cent from 2.5 per cent growth in July last year. Petroleum refinery, too, followed the trend, growing at 3.6 per cent in July 2012, against 3.7 per cent in the year-ago period.
The eight core sector industries have a weight of 37.9 per cent in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP).