Worrying sign: Core industries shrink most since April 2005
The output of eight core industries contracted 5.2% in September, a level of decline never witnessed at least since April 2005, showed the data spanning both the 2004-05 and 2011-12 series. The fall was fuelled by seven of the eight industries, mainly coal (output of Coal India hit a six-year low in September). While floods in key states were partly to blame, the slide just reinforced fears of a bumpy and long road to industrial recovery amid a supply-side contraction following demand compression.
