Data Alert
May eight core industries' growth falls to 9-month low of 0.7%
This story was originally published at 18:19 IST on 20 June 2025
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--India May eight core industries' growth of 0.7% lowest in 9 months
--India Apr-May eight core industries' growth 0.8% vs 6.9% year ago
--India May eight core industries' growth 0.7% vs 1.0% in Apr
--India May eight core industries' growth 0.7%
NEW DELHI – Growth in output of India's eight core industries fell to a nine-month low of 0.7% in May because of a contraction in production of fertilisers, natural gas, crude oil, and electricity, data released Friday by the commerce ministry showed.
The core sector growth was 6.9% a year ago and 1.0% a month ago. On a sequential basis, the index of core industries increased 3.7% in May.
Fertiliser output contracted 5.9% on year in May, the biggest fall in 15 months. Electricity production fell by 5.8% year-on-year in May, the biggest fall in almost five years. Crude oil output fell 1.8% on year in May compared to a decline of 2.8% in the previous month, while natural gas declined 3.6%. The other four sectors – coal, refinery products, steel and cement – grew on a year-on-year basis in May, with the performance of three sectors, except coal, better than April.
Output of refinery products, which have the highest weightage in the core sector, grew 1.1% year-on-year in May. Refinery products output had contracted by 4.5% in April. Steel sector output grew 6.7% last month compared with 4.4% in April, while cement output rose 9.2% on year in May as against 6.3% in the previous month. Coal sector output grew 2.8% year-on-year in May compared with 3.5% in April.
The modest growth in core sector output in May is likely to push down growth in the Index of Industrial Production from 2.7% in April, economists said. Bank of Baroda Chief Economist Madan Sabnavis said IIP growth for May could be around 1.5%. The eight core Industries have a combined weight of 40.3% in the Index of Industrial Production.
The core sector output grew 0.8% in Apr-May, the first two months of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), compared with 6.9% in the same period of last year.
The following tables give the year-on-year changes in the index of the eight infrastructure sectors in May:
| May 2025 |
April 2025 |
May 2024 |
|
| Coal | 2.8% | 3.5% | 10.2% |
| Crude oil | (-)1.8% | (-)2.8% | (-)1.1% |
| Natural gas | (-)3.6% | (-)0.9% | 7.5% |
| Refinery products | 1.1% | (-)4.5% | 0.5% |
| Fertilisers | (-)5.9% | (-)4.2% | (-)1.7% |
| Steel | 6.7% | 4.4% | 8.9% |
| Cement | 9.2% | 6.3% | (-)0.6% |
| Electricity | (-)5.8% | 1.7% | 13.7% |
| Overall | 0.7% | 1.0% | 6.9% |
| Apr-May 2025-26 |
Apr-May 2024-25 |
|
| Coal | 3.1% | 8.9% |
| Crude oil | (-)2.2% | 0.3% |
| Natural gas | (-)2.3% | 8.0% |
| Refinery products | (-)1.7% | 2.2% |
| Fertilisers | (-)5.1% | (-)1.2% |
| Steel | 5.5% | 9.4% |
| Cement | 7.8% | (-)0.2% |
| Electricity | (-)2.2% | 12.0% |
| Overall | 0.8% | 6.9% |
End
Reported by Sagar Sen and Shubham Rana
Edited by Saji George Titus
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