New Delhi: India’s eight infrastructure sectors continued to underperform with 0.1% growth in January against 0.2% expansion recorded in December.
While crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and cement output continued to contract in January, steel and electricity output expanded further. However, coal output slipped into the negative territory after a gap of six months, while fertilizer output turned positive after a contraction in December.
Care Ratings chief economist Madan Sabnavis said the anemic growth in core sector is a concern as it has a weight of nearly 40% in the IIP and reflects physical production that has now declined by 8.8% for the year. “IIP growth for the month can be expected to be positive but less than 1% provided support given by consumer oriented industries,” he added.
