Core sector growth slows to a 0.2% crawl in June

After a strong showing in the first two months of this fiscal, the growth of eight core industries slowed sharply in June, at just 0.2 per cent.

The eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — had grown 7.8 per cent in June 2018.

In April 2019, the core sector output had grown 6.3 per cent, and had remained a robust 5.1 per cent in May.

For June, four sectors — crude oil (-6.8 per cent), natural gas (-2.1 per cent), refinery products (-9.3 per cent) and cement (-1.5 per cent) — saw a sharp contraction.