At 12.1%, infra sector growth rises to 14-month high in Aug

New Delhi, September 29 The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a 14-month high of 12.1% in August against 4.2% a year ago, mainly due to expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to...

PTI

Updated At : 12:21 PM Sep 30, 2023 IST

New Delhi, September 29

The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a 14-month high of 12.1% in August against 4.2% a year ago, mainly due to expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the official data released on Friday.

The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2%.

The production of refinery products, steel, cement and electricity also grew in August, the data showed.

Highest since June 2022
The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2%
The production of refinery products, steel, cement and electricity also grew in August
The core sector growth in July was 8.4%, the Commerce and Industry Ministry data showed

The core sector growth in July was 8.4%, the Commerce and Industry Ministry data showed.

The output growth of the eight sectors was also lower at 7.7% in April-August 2023-24 against 10% in the year-ago period.

These industries account for 40.27% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

In August, steel output jumped 10.9% against 5.8% in the same month last year.

Natural gas production increased by 10% during the month under review compared to a contraction of 0.9% in August 2022.

Coal output surged 17.9% in August 2023 from 7.7% in August 2022. The growth rate in the production of refinery products rose to 9.5% against 7% in August 2022. Similarly, crude oil production rose to 2.1% in the month under review.

Cement and electricity output jumped 18.9% and 14.9% in August, respectively. However, the growth rate in the production of fertilisers slowed down to 1.8% in August against 11.9% in the same month last year.

Icra chief economist Aditi Nayar said a truant monsoon helped to push up core sector growth in August.

“Given the uptick in the core sector growth, as well as the healthy performance of high-frequency indicators, such as auto output, GST e-way bills, rail freight etc, we forecast the IIP to expand by 9-11% in August 2023,” she added.