Data Alert
Eight core industries' growth rises to 3.8% in Mar vs 3.4% in Feb
This story was originally published at 18:34 IST on 21 April 2025
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--India Mar eight core industries' growth at 3.8% vs 3.4% in Feb
--India FY25 eight core industries' growth 4.4% vs 7.6% in FY24
--Govt: To release core sector data for April on May 20
--Govt: To now release core sector data on 20th of every month at 1700 IST
NEW DELHI – The output of India's eight core industries grew 3.8% year-on-year in March, up from the five-month low of 3.4% in February, data released Monday by the commerce ministry showed. Core sector growth in February was revised higher from the provisional estimate of 2.9%, while the March 2024 print was 6.3%.
In the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), the output of eight core industries grew 4.4%, compared with 7.6% in FY24. The government will now release the core sector data on the 20th day of the following month at 1700 IST, against the previous practice of releasing it on the last working day of the month. As such, the core sector data for April will be released on May 20, the commerce ministry said.
Core sector output growth picked up in March compared to February because of higher number of working days during the month. On a sequential basis, the index of core industries jumped 11.5% in March, the biggest month-on-month rise in two years.
Growth in March was primarily led by three sectors--steel, cement, and electricity. Output of the steel sector grew at a three-month-high pace of 7.1% in March compared to 6.9% in February. Growth of the electricity sector rose to 6.2% in March from 3.6% in the previous month. Cement sector output rose 11.6% on year in March, against 10.8% in February.
"While most of the increase in production can be attributed to higher government spending during the end of the year, the fact that private-sector investment announcements increased sharply in Q4 (Jan-Mar) also supports this growth in demand for steel," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
Natural gas output shrank 12.7% on year in March, the worst performance since May 2020. The growth in output of petroleum refinery products also slowed to a seven-month low of 0.2%.
The following tables give the year-on-year changes in the index of the eight infrastructure sectors in March and FY25:
| March 2025 |
February 2025 |
March 2024 |
|
| Coal | 1.6% | 1.7% | 8.7% |
| Crude oil | (-)1.9% | (-)5.2% | 2.1% |
| Natural gas | (-)12.7% | (-)6.0% | 6.3% |
| Refinery products | 0.2% | 0.8% | 1.6% |
| Fertilisers | 8.8% | 10.2% | (-)1.3% |
| Steel | 7.1% | 6.9% | 7.5% |
| Cement | 11.6% | 10.8% | 10.6% |
| Electricity | 6.2% | 3.6% | 8.6% |
| Overall | 3.8% | 3.4% | 6.3% |
| FY25 | FY24 | |
| Coal | 5.1% | 11.8% |
| Crude oil | (-)2.2% | 0.6% |
| Natural gas | (-)1.2% | 6.1% |
| Refinery products | 2.8% | 3.6% |
| Fertilisers | 2.9% | 3.7% |
| Steel | 6.7% | 12.5% |
| Cement | 6.3% | 8.9% |
| Electricity | 5.1% | 7.1% |
| Overall | 4.4% | 7.6% |
Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Shubham Rana
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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