The output of eight core sector industries grew 7.3 per cent in June 2014 – the first full month of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s term – compared with the same month last year. The surge in growth comes after a month of muted growth in May, when the eight core sectors registered a year-on-year growth of 2.3 per cent.
Due to the surge in output in June, the growth of eight core industries’ output in April-June 2014-15 reached 4.6 per cent.
June’s performance was led by electricity production, which increased by 15.7 per cent compared with the same month last year. Cement production increased 13.6 per cent in June year-on-year, while coal production increased by 8.1 per cent.
Steel production also grew 4.2 per cent in June, but crude oil and natural gas was a disappointment. Crude oil production grew only 0.1 per cent in June, while natural gas production grew 1.7 per cent.
Petroleum refinery output increased 1.2 per cent during the month while fertiliser production grew 1 per cent.
The eight industries – coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity – account for 38 per cent of the index of industrial production (IIP).