NEW DELHI: Output of eight core sectors rose by 3.1% in November as against a contraction of 1.1% in the same month last year, on account of coal and refinery products, according to government data released on Friday.
In October, these core sectors’ output had grown by 8.4%. According to the data, coal production rose by 8.2%, natural gas by 23.7%, refinery products 4.3%, fertilisers by 2.5%, steel by 0.8%, and electricity by 1.5% in November.
Crude Oil production declined by 2.2% in November while cement production decreased by 3.2%. The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- stood at 13.7% during April-November this fiscal as against a negative growth of 11.1% during the same period last fiscal.
Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of India had already warned that indicators are showing that the third quarter will grow at a slower pace compared to the second quarter.
The Indian economy grew at 8.4% in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against a growth of 20.1% in the April-June quarter.
“We are maintaining our forecast of a 9% GDP expansion in FY2022, with a clear K-shaped divergence amongst the formal and informal parts of the economy, and the large gaining at the cost of the small. Looking ahead, we expect the economy to maintain a similar 9% growth in FY2023,” Aditi Nayar, chief economist domestic rating agency ICRA said.