India's eight core sectors grow by 3.6% in Jan, marking 15-month low

New Delhi: The growth rate of India's eight core sectors increased by 3.6 per cent in January on an annual basis, marking a 15-month low, according to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

Compared to December 2023, when the index had grown by 4.9 per cent, and January 2023, when it was at 9.7 per cent, the growth in January 2024 was lower.

In a press release, the government stated that the production of coal, steel, cement, natural gas, electricity, and crude oil recorded positive growth in January 2024.

Specifically, the steel sector's growth slowed to 7 per cent in January 2024 from 14.3 per cent in the same month a year ago. Similarly, the growth in the electricity sector decreased from 12.7 per cent in January 2023 to 5.2 per cent last month.

The coal sector saw a growth of 10.2 per cent in January 2024 on a year-on-year basis, compared to 13.6 per cent in the same month a year ago and 10.7 per cent in December.

The crude oil sector grew by 0.7 per cent in January, rebounding from a contraction of -1.1 per cent in January 2023 and 1 per cent growth in December.

Natural gas sector growth increased to 5.5 per cent in January 2024, up from 5.2 per cent in January 2023 but down from 6.6 per cent in December.

Refinery products' growth contracted by 4.3 per cent in January, compared to 4.5 per cent growth in January 2023 and 4 per cent growth in December.

The fertilisers sector contracted by 0.6 per cent in January 2024.

The Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) measures the combined and individual performance of the production of eight core industries: cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilizers, natural gas, refinery products, and steel. These industries make up 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).