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With uptick in production of natural gas, steel, cement and electricity, the output of eight core sectors grew by 6.8% in March 2021. The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors had stood at (-) 8.6% in March 2020. Its cumulative growth during April to March, 2020-21 has been (-) 7.0%. Final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for December 2020 is revised to 0.4% from its provisional level (-) 1.3%. The Eight Core Industries- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Among eight core sectors, the Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight increased by 12.3% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 8.2% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having 17.92% weight increased by 23.0% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 9.5% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 32.5% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 11.9% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85% weight increased by 21.6% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 0.6% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

On the other hand, coal production having 10.33 per cent weight declined by 21.9% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 4.8% during April to March, 2020-21 over corresponding period of the previous year. Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight declined by 3.1% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 5.2% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight declined by 0.7% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 11.2% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizers production having 2.63% weight declined by 5.0% in March, 2021 over March, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 1.8% during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.