Context:
In a noteworthy development, all eight of India’s key infrastructure industries demonstrated year-on-year growth in July, marking the first occurrence of such growth in 14 months.
Relevance: GS3-Indian Economy
Dimensions of the article:
- Trends in core sectors
- About core sectors of the economy
- Eight core sectors
Trends in core sectors:
The core sectors collectively exhibited an average output increase of 8%, following a robust surge of 8.3% in June. Data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry highlighted a growth of 2.1% in crude oil production in July, signaling an upward trend for the first time since May 2022, which was the last instance when all eight infrastructure sectors had reported growth. Consequently, the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) recorded a notable 19.3% year-on-year rise.
About core sectors of the economy:
- These core sectors are pivotal components of the economy and constitute 40.27% of the total weight of items incorporated in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Compiled on a monthly basis, the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) is prepared collaboratively by the Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
The eight core industries encompass the following sectors within the Indian economy:
- Coal – Excluding coking coal, this includes coal production.
- Electricity – Covers electricity generation from thermal, nuclear, hydro sources, and imports from Bhutan.
- Crude Oil – Encompasses total crude oil production.
- Cement – Includes production in both large and mini plants.
- Natural Gas – Encompasses total natural gas production.
- Steel – Refers to the production of alloy and non-alloy steel.
- Refinery Products – Encompasses overall refinery production.
- Fertilizer – Includes products like urea, ammonium sulfate, calcium ammonium nitrate, complex-grade fertilizer, single superphosphate, among others.
The eight core industries, ranked in descending order of weightage, are Refinery Products, Electricity, Steel, Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Cement, and Fertilizers.
