Core sector grows 4.6%

The index of six infrastructure industries registered a marginal improvement in their growth performance during October, clocking 4.6 per cent compared to 4.2 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The six core industries recorded a cumulative growth of 5.9 per cent during the first seven months of 2004-05 as against 5.4 per cent in April-October 2003.

In terms of cumulative growth, barring finished steel "" which showed a decline in its growth rate to 4.1 per cent from 12.5 per cent in April-October "" all other sectors registered higher growth rates. The growth rate in the coal and electricity sectors nearly doubled to 7.3 per cent each, from 3.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively.

During October, the growth rate improved due to a sharp recovery in cement, coal and petroleum refinery products though crude petroleum production decreased while the growth finished steel output fell to 1.9 per cent in October, compared to over 10 per cent in the corresponding month in 2003.

According to official data released today, the growth rate in the cement sector more than doubled at 13.6 per cent during the month against 6.8 per cent last year, while the coal sector registered around 12 per cent growth.