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India's core sector, comprising industries such as coal, electricity, steel and cement, posted a 3.1 per cent in October, the data released by the Commerce Ministry on Friday showed. 

There has been an acceleration in October compared to the growth of 2 per cent recorded in September this year.

The cumulative growth rate of the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) during April to October, 2024-25 works out to 4.1 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Coal production rose by 7.8 per cent in October 2024 compared to October 2023.

Steel production rose by 4.2 per cent in October 2024 compared to October 2023, while cement production increased by 3.3 per cent over the same period as demand for these goods increased with construction activity in big infrastructure projects and the real estate sector picked up momentum during the month.

Fertiliser production also posted an increase in production by 0.4 per cent in October, this year over the same month last year.

Electricity generation, accounting for 19.85 per cent weightage in the index of core sector industries, grew by 0.6 per cent in October 2024 compared to October 2023.

Petroleum Refinery production which holds 28.04 per cent weightage in the index increased by 5.2 per cent in October, 2024 over the same month last year reflecting the higher level of economic activity in the transport sector.

Its cumulative index increased by 2.7 per cent during April to October, 2024-25 over the corresponding period of the previous year.

However, there was a decline in crude oil production during the month by 4.8 per cent over the same month last year. Natural Gas production also declined by 1.2 per cent in October as against October last year.

The final growth rate of ICI for July 2024 stands at 6.3 per cent.

The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and hence gives an indication of the overall industrial growth.