India’s infrastructure growth slowed down in October, hinting a possible slowdown in overall industrial activity as well. The Index of six core industries having a combined weight of 26.7 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 stood at 254.8 (provisional) in October 2009, up 3.5% compared with the same month last year.
The growth was higher than the 2.0% expansion that the core sector registered in October 2008, but lower than 4.1% growth in the previous month. Cumulative growth during the April-October 2009-10 period stood at 4.7% (provisional) as against 3.3% growth achieved during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Looking at the constituents of the core sector, highest growth was witnessed in case of petroleum refinery production, which has a weight of 2.0% in the IIP, at 7.2%. However, crude oil production registered a negative growth of 2.2% in the month under review compared to a growth rate of (-)0.2% in October 2008. Crude oil production has been a negative factor in core growth this fiscal with cumulative growth over the April-October period being in the red at (-)0.7%.
All other segments showed positive growth. Coal production registered a growth of 5.0% compared to 10.6% in October 2008. Cumulative growth in case of coal now stands at 10.2% compared to an increase of 9.4% during the same period last year. Electricity generation, which has a substantial weight of 10.17% in the IIP, registered a growth of 4.7% compared to 4.4% in October 2008. Cumulative growth in electricity stand at 6.5% compared to 2.8% a year ago.
Cement production over the month under review registered a growth of 5.3% compared to 6.2% in October 2008. Cumulative performance of cement stands at 11.3% in April-October 2009-10 compared to growth of 5.6% during the same period of 2008-09. Finished steel production on the other hand stood at 1.1% in October 2009 compared to (-) 4.9% (estimated) in October 2008. Cumulative growth in the steel production stands at 2.7% compared to an increase of 2.0% a year ago.