Core sector contracts 2.5% in Feb; may pull down IIP

Marking the first such instance in 2012-13,the production of eight core sector industries contracted 2.5 per cent in February pulled down by a sharp drop

Marking the first such instance in 2012-13,the production of eight core sector industries contracted 2.5 per cent in February pulled down by a sharp drop in natural gas output. In contrast,core sector production registered a 3.1 per cent growth in January 2013 and a stellar 7.7 per cent rise in February,2012.

Official data released on Monday showed that of the eight core sector industries,five registered negative figures.

Sector-wise performance revealed that the steepest decline of 20.1 per cent in the month was witnessed in case of natural gas,followed by coal (-8 per cent),electricity generation (-4.1 per cent) and crude oil (-4 per cent). Fertiliser output too shrunk by 4 per cent against 4.1 per cent growth in February,2012.

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The dismal performance of the core sector has also raised concerns over the industrial production data for February,which will be released in the second week of this month.

The eight industries including crude oil,petroleum refinery products,coal,electricity,cement and finished steel have a weightage of nearly 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) that grew by 2.4 per cent in January.

The contraction in core sector production in February also pulled down the cumulative growth in the 11 months of 2012-13 ending February to 2.6 per cent. It was much higher at 5.2 per cent during April to February 2011-12.

During the month under review,cement output rose by 3.9 per cent against 9.8 per cent growth in the same month last year.

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electricity generation

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