Core Sector Growth Slows to 2.6% | 01 Feb 2019

The government has released data on output growth of eight core industries’ which fell for the second straight month to touch 2.6% in December 2018.

Core Industries

  • Core industry can be defined as the main industry which has a multiplier effect on the economy.
  • In most countries, there is particular industry that seems to be backbone of all other industries and it qualifies to be the core industry.
  • The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Index of Industrial Production

  • The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity,manufacturing, etc.
  • It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation six weeks after the reference month ends, i.e a lag of six weeks.
  • The Base Year of the Index of Eight Core Industries has been revised from the year 2004-05 to 2011-12 from April, 2017.
  • The eight Core Industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.
  • Earlier in July, 2018 a report by V.K Saraswat (NITI Aayog member) had recommended that the government should consider classifying the aluminium sector as India’s ninth core industry.
Industry Weight (In percentage)

Petroleum & Refinery production

 28.04
Electricity generation 19.85
Steel production 17.92
Coal production 10.33
Crude Oil production 8.98
Natural Gas production 6.88
Cement production 5.37
Fertilizers production 2.63