Eight infrastructure sectors grew 18.1 per cent (provisional) in May as compared with the year-ago month. In the previous month of April 2022, the output of eight infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity — had expanded by 8.4 per cent.
The high growth in core sector output was led by cement, coal, fertilizers and electricity industries. “The production of cement, coal, fertilizers and electricity industries recorded high growth in May 2022 over the corresponding period of last year. Coal industries grew by 25.1 per cent and Fertilizer industries were up by 22.8 per cent. While the cement industries zoomed by 26.3 per cent, the electricity sector increased by 22 per cent,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
It said the combined Index of Eight Core Industries grew at 18.1 percent (provisional) in May 2022 as compared to the Index of May 2021. The Index stood at 148.1 in May 2022.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for the Month of May 2022 on Friday. ICI measures combined and individual performance of production in selected eight core industries viz. Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for February 2022 is revised to 5.9 per cent from its provisional level 5.8 per cent. The growth rate of ICI during April-May 2022-23 was 13.6 per cent (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last FY.
Apart from coal, fertiliser, cement and electricity, other sectors also showed a positive growth.
Crude oil production increased 4.6 per cent in May 2022 over May 2021. Its cumulative index increased by 1.8 per cent during April-May 2022 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Natural gas production increased 7 per cent in May 2022 over May 2021. Its cumulative index increased by 6.7 per cent during April-May 2022 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Petroleum Refinery production also jumped 16.7 per cent in May 2022 over May 2021. Its cumulative index increased by 12.8 per cent during April-May in 2022 over the corresponding period of previous year.
Steel production witnessed a rise of 15 per cent in May 2022 over May 2021. Its cumulative index increased by 8.4 per cent during April-May 2022 over the corresponding period of previous year.
As per weightage in the overall index, petroleum refinery products have the highest weightage at 28.04 per cent, followed by electricity (19.85 per cent), steel (17.92 per cent), coal (10.33 per cent), crude oil (8.98 per cent), natural gas (6.88 per cent), cement (5.37 per cent) and fertilisers (2.63 per cent).
Meanwhile, India’s fiscal deficit during April-May hit Rs 2,03,921 crore, or 12.3 per cent of the target for the entire current financial year, mainly due to higher expenditure, according to official data. The total receipts at the end of May stood at Rs 3.81 lakh crore or 16.7 per cent of the FY23 BE, while the total expenditure was at Rs 5.85 lakh crore or 14.8 per cent of this year’s BE.
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