Infrastructure growth falls to 3.9 per cent in February

Infrastructure sector witnessed a sharp decline in growth at 3.9 per cent last month from 4.1 per cent in January and 4.4 per cent a year ag...

Infrastructure sector witnessed a sharp decline in growth at 3.9 per cent last month from 4.1 per cent in January and 4.4 per cent a year ago, mainly due to decline in production in electricity, cement and coal.

The aggregate growth in six infrastructure industries — crude petroleum, petro refining, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel — was still at 5.2 per cent during April-February this fiscal compared to 3.2 per cent in the year-ago period, according to data.

According to official estimates, the petroleum refining sector posted a dramatic rebound posting 7.1 per cent growth last month compared to a negative growth of 0.1 per cent while crude production flared up by 4.9 per cent from a negative 0.3 per cent during February 2002.

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During the first 11 months, the crude production was up by 3.5 per cent compared to a negative growth of 1.7 per cent in the year-ago period. In case of the refining sector, the growth remained same at 4.4 per cent.

Finished steel production also surged by 8.4 per cent during the last month compared to 5.8 per cent a year ago but the other three sectors — electricity, coal and cement witnessed a slump. Steel output was up by 7.8 per cent during April-February this fiscal compared to 3.7 per cent a year ago. Cement sector witnessed a lower growth of 5.2 per cent in February as against a handsome 19.6 per cent a year ago.

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