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The growth in production of eight key infrastructure sectors contracted 1.8% in August this year due to a decline in the output of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, cement and electricity, according to official data released on Monday (September 30, 2024).

Fertilisers and Steel production grew but at a milder pace than July, when core sectors’ output rose 6.1%.

The growth of core sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity — was 13.4 per cent in August 2023.

Coal and electricity output recorded their first contraction in at least 13 months, declining 8.1% and 5%, respectively, in August. 

Natural gas production shrank 3.6%, marking the second successive month of contraction. Crude oil output fell for the third straight month, with the pace of contraction deepening to 3.4%.

Cement production fell 3%, the worst performance in nine months, while refinery products declined 1%, the second decline in three months.

The Index of Core Industries (ICI), which constitutes about 40% of the broader index of India’s industrial output (IIP), stood at 155.8 in August, marking a third consecutive month of sequential decline, and was 4.2% below July levels. In July, the ICI was up 6.1% on a year-on-year basis.