Pulled down by the Covid-19 induced lockdown in the last week of March and also muted activity in the week prior to that, the Country’s core sector industries growth contracted 6.5 per cent in March 2020, official data showed.
This is much lower than the 7.1 per cent growth recorded in February 2020.
In March last year, the eight core industries output grew 5.8 per cent.
Only one industry—Coal, recorded growth in output at 4 per cent for the month under review. All the remaining seven core industries—crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity —registered contraction in March 2020.
