During fiscal 2007-08, growth in the six core infrastructure industries slowed down to 5.6 per cent from 9.2 per cent in the previous year.
Barring cement and finished steel production, the other industries - crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal and electricity - registered a decline in growth in March 2008.
Sluggish performance of the manufacturing sector pulled down growth in overall industrial production to a six-year low of three per cent in March this year from 14.8 per cent in the year-ago period.