India's core sector output moves up 4.3 pc in March, coal production dips

"The combined index of eight core industries stood at 157.3 in March 2022, which increased by 4.3% (provisional) as compared to the index of March 2021," the official release said.

The growth was, however, lower compared to February when the combined index of eight core industries grew by 6%.

The eight core industries including coal, petroleum products, steel, cement and electricity comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

"The YoY performance of cement and steel diverged in March 2022 relative to the previous month, with a pickup in the former (to 8.8% from 5.0%) and a slowdown in the latter (to 3.7% from 5.9%). The double-digit growth recorded by fertiliser output in March 2022 came on the back of a very low base. In spite of the pickup in mobility, the growth in output of refinery products moderated in March 2022," said ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar.

"While the growth of the core sector output and non-oil merchandise exports slowed in March 2022, several high frequency indicators witnessed an improvement, based on which we expect the YoY IIP growth to rise modestly to 3-3.5% in that month," she said.

As per the official data, coal sector output declined 0.1% in March, 2022 over March, 2021.

Crude oil production declined by 3.4% during this period.

While natural gas production recorded 7.6% year-on-year increase in March, 2022 petroleum refinery production increased by 6.2% during this period.

The monthly data showed fertilizer production grew by 15.3% in March, 2022 over March, 2021.

Steel production increased by 3.7% during this period. Cement production increased by 8.8% in March, 2022 over March, 2021.

On the back of strong demand, electricity generation increased by 4.9 per cent in March this year. On cumulative basis, core industries grew by 10.4% during financial year 2021-22.

(With UNI inputs)