India’s Infrastructure Output in June Increases 8.9% YoY | Photo credit: BCCL
New Delhi: India’s infrastructure output in June rose 8.9% year-on-year, from 16.8% the previous month, according to government data released on Friday.
Data released by the Department of Trade and Industry on July 30 showed output fell in just one of eight industries in the core sector – crude oil.
The eight main industrial sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refined products, steel, cement, fertilizers and electricity have a combined weight of more than 40% in the index of industrial production, or IIP.
Data released by the Industry Department showed refinery output and steel output in June fell from double-digit growth in May, while fertilizer output turned positive. Positive growth was seen in seven of the eight sectors, with a contraction in crude oil production.
Elsewhere in the infra space, cement production rose by a smaller margin of 4.3%, down from the 8.3% seen in May. This may reflect the impact of the second surge of COVID on rural demand, as well as the year-over-year decline in government capital spending in June 2021.
In the energy sector, crude oil production continued to contract, falling 1.8% in June. Rough production has been declining for over 15 months now, but the rate of decline has continued to decline.
A similar ingrained slowdown was also recorded by the oil refining sector through March. In June, it rose 2.4%, after rising 15.3% in May.
However, after surging in March, natural gas production continued to climb. Gas production increased by 20.6% in June, slightly more than the 20% in May. June also saw a similar story for coal production, which rose 7.4% after rising 6.9% in May.
Interestingly, electricity production rose 7.2% in June, after rising 7.5% in May and 38.5% in April. It had also risen 21.2% in March.
Infrastructure growth for March has been revised to 12.6% from an earlier estimate of 6.8%.
