Slump in coal production slows down key industries in Dec

The slowdown was led by the coal sector which witnessed a contraction of 0.6 per cent during the month vis-a-vis a growth of 2.3 per cent in November.  Experts say that the Index for Industrial Production (IIP) is likely to take a hit due to dismal core sector figure. The eight core industries have a combined weight of about 38 per cent in IIP. DK Joshi, chief economist, Crisil, said that going by the trends, the IIP is likely to be 1 per cent for the fiscal.

“Though some traction has been there and some pick up should be visible, industrial sector has not seen much growth. Export-linked sectors are doing well. It is domestic-linked sectors which are pulling down the key industrial sectors,” Joshi said.
Further, cement production also slowed down to 1.1 per cent as compared to 4.2 per cent in November while steel output grew 3.1 per cent during December compared to 3.9 per cent a month ago. Production of refinery products and natural gas continued to contract to stand at 1.7 per cent and 9.9 per cent during the month compared to a contraction of 5 per cent and 11.3 per cent during November. However, production of fertiliser rose 4.1 per cent compared to a meagre 0.6 per cent during November.