Core sector growth falls to 0.4% in June

 The growth of eight core sectors slowed to 0.4% in June due to contraction in output of coal, refinery products, fertiliser and cement.

The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- was 7% in June last year. The production of coal declined by 6.7%, refinery products by 0.2%, fertiliser by 3.6% and cement by 5.8%, as per the official data. Crude oil output rose to 0.6% last month as against a decline of 4.3% in June 2016.
According to the data, natural gas output rose by 6.4% in June.

Steel production and power generation slowed to 5.8% and 0.7% in June this year from 8.8% and 9.8% in the same month last year respectively. Slow growth in key sectors would also have implications on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as these segments account for about 41% to the total factory output. In May, these eight sectors had recorded a growth rate of 4.1%.