New Delhi: In a clear sign of economic recovery, the index of eight core industries, including coal, refining, and electricity generation, registered a growth of 3.7% in January 2022 on a year-on-year basis. The index registered a growth of 11.6% during April-January 2021-22 compared to the same period in the previous financial year, showing the latest official data.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 144.4 in January 2022, which increased by 3.7 percent (provisional) as compared to the Index of January 2021.
Data shows that the production of six out of eight core industries i.e. coal, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity, increased in January 2022 in comparison with production during the same month last year while two sectors – crude oil and fertilizers registered a decline this January.
India's eight core sectors grew by 3.8% in December 2021 and by 3.4 percent in November 2021. The government has also revised the growth rate for these 8 core industries to 8.7% on a year-on-year basis for the month of October 2021 in the final figures released today.
These eight core industries (ICI) i.e. coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity, account for over 40% of weight in the country’s entire factory output as measured by the index of industrial production.
Sector-wise performance
Coal production, which has 10.33 percent weight in the index, registered a healthy growth of 8.2% in January this year on a year-on-year basis with the coal production recording a growth of 10.3% for the April-January period in FY 2021-22 over the same period of the last financial year.
However, the production of crude oil, which has 8.98 percent weight, declined by 2.4 percent in January on a year-on-year basis, with the crude production for the first 10 months of this fiscal recording a decline of 2.6% on a year-on-year basis.
But the production of natural gas, which has a weight of 6.88 percent in the index, increased by 11.7 percent in January on a year-on-year basis with the cumulative index for the April-January period recording a strong growth of 21.2% during the April-January period.
Production of refinery products, which has a weight of 28.04 percent in the index, followed the overall index as it increased by 3.7 percent in January this year on a y-o-y basis with a cumulative growth of 9.3% during the first 10 months of the fiscal on a year-on-year basis.
Fertilizer production, with a weight of 2.63 percent in the index, declined by 2.0 percent in January this year on a year-on-year basis while the cumulative index for the first 10 months also registered a marginal decline of 0.3% between April-January on a year-on-year basis.
Cement, electricity and steel
Steel production, which is a crucial input for infrastructure and depicts the overall health of an economy, registered an increase of 2.8 percent in January on a year-on-year basis but registered a healthy growth of 19.9 percent during April to January period in the current fiscal as against its growth during the same period of last fiscal.
Cement production, another crucial input material for the infrastructure sector with a weight of 5.37 percent in the index, increased by 13.6 percent in January this year in comparison with the cement production in January last year. While the cumulative index for cement production during the first 10 months of this fiscal registered a healthy growth of 24.6 percent on a year-on-year basis.
Electricity generation, with a weight of 19.85 percent, increased marginally by 0.5 percent in January this year on a year-on-year basis but its production during the first 10 months of the current fiscal registered a growth of 8.5% on a year-on-year basis.
