THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR,
OCTOBER 21, 2026
India’s core sector
output growth accelerated to a 30-month high of 7.9 per cent in September, driven
by a sharp rebound in coal production, a surge in iron ore output and robust
refinery performance, according to official data released on Wednesday.
The growth in the
eight infrastructure sectors, along with iron ore, was significantly higher
than the 5.9 per cent recorded in August, which was revised upwards, and the
3.1 per cent expansion seen in September last year.
The September reading
was the highest under the new series of the Index of Core Industries (ICI),
which uses 2022-23 as the base year, data released by the Ministry of Commerce
and Industry showed.
Seven of the nine
sectors registered an improvement in growth or a moderation in contraction
compared with August, with electricity and cement being the exceptions.
However, the month-on-month performance remained subdued, as the overall index
declined 1.74 per cent to 118.3 in September from 120.4 in the preceding month,
marking a five-month low.
Iron ore emerged as
the fastest-growing sector, with output expanding 18.4 per cent in September,
more than three times the 5.5 per cent growth recorded in August. The sector
carries a 4.9 per cent weight in the core industries index.
Electricity
production grew 11.4 per cent, although the pace moderated from an upwardly
revised 13.1 per cent in August. Electricity has the highest weight in the
index at 30.9 per cent.
Coal production
staged a strong recovery, expanding 10.7 per cent after contracting 3.8 per
cent in August. The September performance marked the fastest growth in 13
months, signalling a turnaround in one of the key inputs for power generation
and industrial activity.
Refinery products,
the second-heaviest component with a 22.6 per cent weight, recorded a 30-month
high growth of 10.3 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent in August. The reading was
the strongest under the new series, pointing to improved momentum in the
petroleum refining segment.
Steel output growth
also strengthened to a three-month high of 4.9 per cent in September, compared
with 3.5 per cent in August. In contrast, cement production growth moderated to
a four-month low of 9.8 per cent from 11.7 per cent in the previous month.
On the downside,
fertiliser production contracted 11.7 per cent in September, following a 12.4
per cent decline in August, marking the seventh consecutive month of
contraction.
Natural gas output
fell 4.6 per cent, extending its declining streak to 27 months, although the
contraction was marginally narrower than the 4.9 per cent fall in August. Crude
oil production declined 1.4 per cent, easing from a 3.6 per cent contraction in
the previous month and registering its smallest fall in 11 months.
The nine core
industries account for around 40 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production
(IIP), making their performance a key indicator of broader industrial momentum.
The IIP had expanded 8 per cent in August.
Cumulatively, core
sector output grew 5.1 per cent during April-September 2026, more than double
the 2.5 per cent expansion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous
year.
The latest data mark
the fourth release under the revised series, which replaced the earlier 2011-12
base year with 2022-23 and expanded the index from eight to nine sectors by
including iron ore.
The strong September
performance suggests a pickup in infrastructure-linked and energy-related
activity, although persistent weakness in fertilisers, natural gas and crude
oil, alongside the sequential decline in the overall index, indicates that the
recovery remains uneven across sectors.
