Infra growth at 5-month low of 2.8% in May

INFRASTRUCTURE sectors grew at a five-month low rate of 2.8% in May, slipping from a four-year high of 8.5% in previous month, as oil and natural gas output contracted, reports PTI. The eight infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — had expanded by 4.4% in May 2015. The eight core sectors comprise nearly 38% of total industrial production.

New Delhi, June 30: Infrastructure sectors grew at five-month low rate of 2.8% in May, slipping from a fouryear high of 8.5% in previous month, as oil and natural gas output contracted.

The eight infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — had expanded by 4.4% in May 2015. The eight core sectors comprise nearly 38% of total industrial production.

In April, these sectors grew at an over four-year high rate of 8.5%, helped by double-digit expansion in refinery products and electricity generation.

The May growth numbers are the lowest since December last when the core sector had expanded by just 0.9%.

A decline in production of crude oil (-3.3%) and natural gas (-6.9%) dragged the growth rate to a fivemonth low.

Also, growth in output of refinery products (1.2%), cement (2.4%) and electricity (4.6%) also slowed down in May as compared to the same month last year. These segments had expanded by 7.8%, 2.7% and 6%, respectively in May 2015.

Coal output growth was also lower at 5.5% in May this year compared to 7.6% in year-ago period.

Only fertiliser and steel output recorded healthy growth. It increased by 14.8% and 3.2 % in the month under review.

During April-May 201617, the growth of eight core infrastructure sectors increased by 5.5% from 2.1% in the same period last year.