Shrugging off the effects of demonetisation, eight core industries grew 5.6 per cent in December 2016 with double-digit expansion in the steel sector. The industries grew 4.9 per cent in November 2016, and 2.9 per cent in December 2015.
“Its cumulative growth during April to December, 2016-17 was 5 per cent,” an official release said on Tuesday. The data also points to improved factory output in the month as core sector industries comprise nearly 38 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.
In the month under review, the steel sector grew 14.9 per cent, as against a decline of 3.1 per cent in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, refinery products grew 6.4 per cent last month as against 2.1 per cent in December 2015.
Electricity generation grew 6 per cent in December 2016 but was subdued, compared to 8.8 per cent growth in December 2015. Similarly, coal production also grew at a muted pace of 4.4 per cent, compared to 5.3 per cent growth last year.
Cement production declined the sharpest rate in the month — by 8.7 per cent — compared to a growth of 4.1 per cent in December 2015.
Fertilizer production contracted by 4.7 per cent as against a growth of 13.5 per cent in December, 2015.
Crude oil production fell 0.8 per cent compared to a 4.1 per cent contraction in December 2015. Production of natural gas also dipped by 0.01 per cent as compared to a decline of 6.1 per cent in December 2015.