India's 8 core sectors grow lowest in 20 months

This was primarily due to a decline in the output of crude oil and refinery products.

In May 2024, the core sectors' production had grown by 6.4 percent. In June 2023, the growth rate for these sectors was 8.4 percent.

The last time such a low growth rate was recorded was in October 2022, at 0.7 percent.

For the April-June period of this fiscal year, the output of the core sectors increased by 5.7 percent, compared to a 6 percent rise during the same period last fiscal year.

These eight core sectors—coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, steel, cement, and electricity—account for 40.27 percent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which measures overall industrial growth.

In June, the output of crude oil and refinery products contracted by 2.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The growth rate for natural gas, fertilizer, steel, and cement production slowed to 3.3 percent, 2.4 percent, 2.7 percent, and 1.9 percent, respectively.

However, production growth for coal and electricity rose by 14.8 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.