Core industries' growth slumps to 2 percent in March

New Delhi, April 30 (IANS) Growth in eight core industries, including electricity, coal, cement, steel and crude oil, fell to 2 percent in March as compared to 6.8 percent in the previous month, due to drop in oil and gas output and sluggish performance of electricity segment, official data showed Monday.

The cumulative growth of eight core industries, which have a combined weight of 37.9 percent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), fell by 4.3 percent in 2011-12 as compared to 6.6 percent growth registered in the previous year.

The eight core industries had registered a growth of 6.5 percent in March 2011, according to data released by the ministry of commerce and industry here.

Factory output, measured in terms of IIP, grew by 3.5 percent in April-February, 2011-12 period, according to latest available data. Industrial output had grown by 4.1 percent in February.

Electricity sector, which has shown a healthy performance in earlier months, showed a sluggish 2.1 percent growth in the last month of 2011-12. Electricity generation recorded annual growth of 8 percent in 2011-12.

Crude oil production fell by 2.9 percent and output of natural gas dropped by 10.1 percent in the month under review.

Cement production registered a growth of 7.1 percent in March and cumulative growth 6.7 percent for the whole fiscal.

Coal output grew by 6.8 percent in March 2012.