Growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to 8 per cent in July 2023 on expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to official data released on Thursday. Production of steel, cement and electricity also grew in July, the data showed.
However, the core sector growth was lower in July compared to the previous month when it was 8.3 per cent, the Commerce and Industry Ministry data showed. The production of these sectors expanded by 4.8 per cent in July 2022.
The output growth of the eight sectors was also lower at 6.4 per cent in April-July 2023-24 against 11.5 per cent in the year-ago period. These industries account for 40.27 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
In July, steel output jumped by 13.5 per cent as against 7.5 per cent in the same month last year. Natural gas production increased by 8.9 per cent during the month under review as compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent in July 2022.
Coal output rose by 14.9 per cent in July 2023 as against 11.4 per cent in July 2022. The growth rate in the production of refinery products, and fertiliser, slowed down to 3.6 per cent, and 3.3 per cent as against 6.2 per cent each. Crude oil production rose to 2.1 per cent in the month under review.
