New Delhi: The growth rate of eight basic industries in the country stood at 8.9 percent in June this year. Basic industries registered good growth mainly on the back of a weak comparative base and increased production of natural gas, steel, coal, and electricity.
Eight core industries – coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, steel, cement, and electricity – declined 12.4 percent in June last year. The reason for this was the ‘lockdown’ imposed across the country to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic. The growth rate of basic industries was 16.3 percent in May this year as compared to 60.9 percent in April.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the production of coal, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity grew by 7.4 percent, 20.6 percent, 2.4 percent, 25 percent, 4.3 percent, and 7.2 percent, respectively.
In June last year, coal, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity production declined by 15.5 percent, 12 percent, 8.9 percent, 23.2 percent, 6.8 percent, and 10 percent, respectively. Crude oil production declined by 1.8 percent in the month under review as against a decline of 6 percent in June 2020.
The fertilizer sector grew by 2 percent in June. The growth rate of eight core industries during the April-June quarter in the current financial year was 25.3 percent as against a decline of 23.8 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21 a year ago.
