The growth of eight core infrastructure industries declined by 4.6 percent in February 2021, the steepest contraction in the last six months which could drag the overall industrial production in the month into the negative territory. The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors stood at 6.4 percent in February 2020. In January this year, the segments have registered a positive growth of 0.9 per cent. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Among eight core sectors, Steel production having 17.92 percent weight declined by 1.8 percent in February, 2021 over February,2020 and Its cumulative index declined by 12.4 percent during April to February, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 percent weight declined by 3.7 percent in February,2021 over February, 2020, while its cumulative index increased by 2.4 percent during April to February, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight declined by 0.2 percent in February, 2021 over February, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 2.5 percent during April to February, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Crude Oil production having 8.98 percent weight declined by 3.2 percent in February, 2021 over February, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 5.4 percent during April to February, 2020-21over the corresponding period of previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 percent weight declined by 1.0 percent in February, 2021 over February, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 9.9 percent during April to February, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight declined by 10.9 percent in February, 2021 over February, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 12.2 percent during April to February, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight declined by 5.5 percent in February, 2021 over February,2020 and its cumulative index declined by 15.5 percent during April to February, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Coal production having 10.33 percent weight declined by 4.4 percent in February, 2021 over February, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 2.2 percent during April to February, 2020-21over corresponding period of the previous year.