Core Sector Growth at 5.5% | 01 Apr 2020

Why in News

  • According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the eight core sector industries recorded a growth of 5.5% in February, 2020 which is highest in 11-months.

Key Points

  • This spike is because of growth in refinery products, electricity, fertiliser, cement and coal production.
  • However, crude oil, natural gas, and steel recorded negative growth rate in February.
  • This was the fourth consecutive month when the index of eight core industries reported growth.
  • The outlook may not be very bright for March 2020, as the lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19 has disrupted the production process in the country and globally.

Core Sector Industries

  • The eight core sector industries include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity
  • The eight core industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
  • The eight Core Industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.
Industry Weight (In percentage)
Petroleum & Refinery production 28.04
Electricity generation 19.85
Steel production 17.92
Coal production 10.33
Crude Oil production 8.98
Natural Gas production 6.88
Cement production 5.37
Fertilizers production 2.63

Index of Industrial Production

  • The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity,manufacturing, etc.
  • It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation six weeks after the reference month ends, i.e a lag of six weeks.
  • The Base Year of the Index of Eight Core Industries has been revised from the year 2004-05 to 2011-12 from April, 2017.

Source: TH