Core sector output grows 9.4% in July

NEW DELHI: The production of eight core industries rose by 9.4% in July against a 7.6% decline in the year-ago month, official data released on Tuesday showed.

The production of coal, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity industries increased in July 2021 over the corresponding period of last year, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data.

Crude oil production, however, dropped by 3.2%.

Core sectors had recorded a 7.6%decline in output in July 2020 due to the impact of Covid19-related restrictions.

The infrastructure sectors had expanded by 9.3% in June 2021. For April-July 2021-22, the sectors grew by 21.2% compared to the corresponding period of last financial year.

Meanwhile, the retail inflation for industrial workers eased marginally to 5.27% in July, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.

“Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 5.27% compared to 5.57% for the previous month (June 2021) and 5.33% during the corresponding month a year before (July 2020),” a labour ministry statement said. Food inflation stood at 4.91% against 5.61% in June 2021 and 6.38% in July of last year.

The all-India CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers) for July 2021 increased by 1.1 points and stood at 122.8 points. It was 121.7 points in June 2021.

The maximum upward pressure on the index came from the ‘miscellaneous group’, contributing 0.42 percentage points to the total change.

At item level, dairy milk, poultry/chicken, mango, carrot, cauliflower, onion, tomato, cooking gas, doctor’s/ surgeon’s fee, allopathic medicines, auto rickshaw/ scooter fare, bus fare, rail fare, petrol, housing, among others, contributed to the price rise.

However, items like fish, edible oil, pomegranate/anar and lemon put downward pressure on the index.