Infra growth slows down to 4.8% in October; fertiliser, crude oil decline

NEW DELHI: The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.8 per cent in October due to contraction in the production of crude oil, natural gas and fertiliser, according to the official data released Friday.

Eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had grown by 5 per cent in October 2017.

Fertiliser production dropped sharply by 11.5 per cent, crude oil by 5 per cent and natural gas by 0.9 per cent in October over the year-ago month, the commerce and industry ministry data showed.


The production of coal, cement and electricity, on the other hand, expanded in the month under review.

During April-October 2018-19, the eight sectors recorded a growth rate of 5.4 per cent against 3.5 per cent in the same period last year.

The growth rate of refinery products declined to 1.3 per cent in October as against 7.5 per cent in the same month last year.

Similarly, the steel sector growth too dipped to 2.2 per cent against 8.6 per cent in October 2017.

The growth rate of eight core sectors, however, is more than 4.3 per cent expansion in September.

Commenting on the figures, rating agency ICRA said that the modest uptick in the core sector growthin October as compared to September portends a pickup in IIP growth to 6.5-7.5 per cent in that month.