Output of Eight Core Industries Grew by 3.6 % in May 2017

The output of India's eight major industries during last month grew by 3.6 percent from a rise of 2.8 percent reported in April 2017, official data showed on Friday.

The Eight Core Industries (ECI) data which represents the output of major industrial sectors like coal, steel, cement and electricity had grown by 5.2 percent in the corresponding month of 2016.

"The combined Index of ECI stands at 126.4 in May 2017, which was 3.6 percent higher compared with the index of May 2016. Its cumulative growth during April to May, 2017-18, was 3.2 percent," the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which releases the figures, said.

The ECI index comprises 40.27 percent weightage of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Recently, the base year of ECI index was revised from 2004-05 to 2011-12.

On a sector-specific basis, petroleum refinery production, which has the highest weightage of 28.03 percent, edged up by 5.4 percent in May 2017 as compared with the corresponding month of last year.

Electricity generation, which has the second highest weightage of 19.85 per, rose by 6.4 percent last month.

Steel production, the third most important component with weightage of 17.92 percent, increased by 3.7 percent during the month under review. Conversely, coal mining, with a 10.33 percent weightage, decreased by 3.3 percent in May 2017.

Extraction of crude oil, which has a 8.98 percent weightage, was inched up by 0.7 percent during the month under consideration.

On the other hand, the sub-index for natural gas output, with a weightage of 6.88 percent stood higher by 4.5 percent.

Besides, cement production, which has the weightage of 5.37 percent, rose by 1.8 percent in May 2017.

In contrast, fertiliser manufacturing, which has the least weightage of only 2.63 percent, decreased by 6.5 percent.