Some good news was released on the IIP (Index of Industrial Production) front today, with India’s core industries growing slightly faster in January than in the previous two months.
The index for core industries — such as energy, steel, cement and fertilizers — was up 3.9% in January. The sector has a weightage of about 38% in the overall industrial production index (IIP).
The core sector index was up 2% in November and 2.5% in December, indicating that growth was faster in January.
The growth was led by refining output, which rose 10.5%. Fertilizers and Steel were also up more than 9 percent in January. The draggers were coal, up only 2.3%, and crude output, up only 0.2%. Cement and electricity were up about 6%.
Particular improvement was seen in fertilizers and steel compared to their levels in earlier months.
However, steel production registered 3.1% growth during April-January 2012-13 compared to its 10.9% growth during the same period of 2011-12.
For the core sector index as a whole, during April-January 2012-13, the growth was 3.2 % compared to 5.0% during the same period in 2011-12.