Core Industries Output Remain Unchanged in October

The output of India's eight major industries stood at a standstill in October, official data showed.

On a sequential basis, the "Index of Eight Core Industries" (ECI) for October grew by 4.7 percent same as it did in September when the ECI growth was revised downwards to 4.7 percent from an earlier reported rise of 5.2 percent.

However, on a year-on-year (YoY) level, it showed a downtrend, as ECI which represents the output of major sectors like coal, steel, cement and electricity had risen by 7.1 percent in the corresponding month of the previous year.

According to the data furnished by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the cumulative growth of the combined ECI during April to October 2017-18 was 3.5 percent from a rise of 5.6 percent during the same period of the last fiscal.

The ECI index carries 40.27 percent weightage of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which is the macro-gauge for India's factory output.

On a sector-specific basis, refinery production, which has the highest weightage of 28.03 percent, grew by 7.5 percent in October 2017 as compared with the corresponding month of last year.

Electricity generation, which has the second highest weightage of 19.85, rose by 2.1 percent.

Steel production, the third most important component with weightage of 17.92, increased by 8.4 percent during the month under review, while coal mining, with a 10.33 weightage, rose by 3.9 percent in October 2017.

However, extraction of crude oil, which has a 8.98 weightage, slipped by 0.4 percent during the month under consideration.

On the other hand, the sub-index for natural gas output, with a weightage of 6.88, stood higher by 2.8 percent.

Conversely, cement production, which has a weightage of 5.37, decreased by 2.7 percent in October 2017.

Fertiliser manufacturing, which has the least weightage -- of only 2.63 -- rose by 3 percent.