Core Sector Industries Grew By 7.4% In December 2022: Ministry Of Commerce

New Delhi: The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 7.4 per cent in December 2022 as compared to the Index of December 2021, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

ICI measures the combined and individual performance of the production of eight core industries including Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement, and Electricity.

The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

According to the data, Coal production increased by 11.5 per cent in December 2022 over December 2021. Natural Gas production rose by 2.6 per cent in December 2022 compared to December 2021. Petroleum Refinery production jumped by 3.7 per cent in the same period.

Fertilizers, Steel, and Cement production also increased by 7.3 per cent, 9.2 per cent, and 9.1 per cent in December 2022 as against December 2021.

Electricity generation rose by 10.0 per cent in December 2022 over December 2021.

However, out of these eight core industries, only oil production declined by 1.2 per cent in December 2022 over December 2021.

The production of eight key sectors rose by 5.7 per cent in November 2022.

The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors stood at 8 per cent in April-December this fiscal as against 12.6 per cent during the same period last fiscal.

The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Tuesday said that the industries witnessed modest growth of 4.1 per cent in FY23 compared to the strong growth of 10.3 per cent in FY22 on accounts of input cost-push pressures, supply chain disruptions, and the China lockdown impacting the availability of essential inputs and slowing the global economy.

The Overall Gross Value Added (GVA) by the industrial sector rose 3.7 per cent, based on data available for the first half of the FY23, which is higher than the average growth of 2.8 per cent achieved in the first half of the last decade, stated the Economic Survey 2022-23.