Core sector growth at 5.7 pc in February

The eight core sectors expanded to a 15-month high of 5.7 per cent in February due to sharp pick-up in natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity generation.

The sectors - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprising nearly 38 per cent of India’s total industrial production, had grown at 2.3 per cent in February last year.

It is the highest growth since November 2014, when these sectors had witnessed a growth of 6.7 per cent.

Crude oil grew by 0.8 per cent, natural gas (1.2 pc), refinery products (8.1 pc), fertiliser (16.3 pc), cement (13.5 pc) and electricity generation (9.2 pc) in February, year-on-year.

Coal production, however, dipped to 3.9 per cent from 10.8 per cent in February 2015. Steel output was (-)0.5 per cent.

The cumulative growth of core sectors in April-February period of 2015-16 came in at 2.3 per cent, lower than 5 per cent in the 11 months of the previous financial year.