Production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 3.8% in December 2021 against a 0.4% contraction in the same month last year on better show by coal, cement and refinery products, according to the official data released.
Barring crude oil and steel, all sectors recorded positive growth in December 2021. The core sector industries had grown by 3.4% in November 2021.
The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — stood at 12.6% during April-December this fiscal as against a negative growth of 9.8% during the same period last fiscal.
According to the data, production of coal rose by 5.2%, natural gas by 19.5%, refinery products by 5.9%, fertilisers by 3.5%, cement by 12.9%, and electricity by 2.5% in December.
The output of crude oil and steel declined by 1.8% and 1% respectively during the period under review.
Commenting in the data, ICRA Ltd Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said, “We expect the IIP to report a feeble rise of less than 2% on a YoY basis in that month, and print below the expansion displayed by the core sector for the fourth consecutive month”.
The eight core industries hold 40.27% weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
