The output of eight core sector industries contracted 2.5 per cent in February, against a growth of 3.1 per cent in January and 7.7 per cent growth in February 2012.
This is the weakest performance for the eight core industries — that have a 37.9 per cent weightage in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) — since the new series started in April 2005.
The January 2013 output figure has also been sharply revised downwards to 3.1 per cent, from 3.9 per cent earlier.
On a cumulative basis, the eight core industries’ output grew 2.6 per cent in April-February 2013, lower than the 5.2 per cent growth recorded in same period last year.
All this is a pointer to weak industrial growth for February 2013, official data for which is expected to be released on April 12. The February performance of eight core industries was hit by contraction in as many as five of the eight industries.
The five sectors that saw a decline in output are coal (8 per cent), crude oil (4 per cent), natural gas (20 per cent), fertilisers (4 per cent) and electricity (4.1 per cent). The other three core industries — cement (3.9 per cent), steel (0.5 per cent) and refinery products (4.3 per cent) recorded growth in output during February 2013.
The weak core sector performance for February coupled with the sharp fall in India’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for March (from 54.2 to 52) is a signal that growth recovery may be further delayed, economy watchers point out.