India's infrastructure output grows 1.7% in April; cement, steel, electricity lift core sectors

India’s infrastructure output growth grew at 1.7% in April 2026, according to provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, with strong expansion in cement, steel and electricity partially offset by contraction in five other core sectors.

The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), which measures output across coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity, had recorded a revised growth of 1.2% in March 2026. The eight sectors together account for 40.27% of the weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).



Among the eight sectors, cement production posted the sharpest rise at 9.4% year-on-year in April, followed by steel at 6.2% and electricity generation at 4.1%.

However, output contracted across coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and fertilisers during the month, reflecting continued weakness in parts of the energy and commodity chain.

Coal production fell 8.7% in April from a year earlier, while crude oil output declined 3.9%. Natural gas production dropped 4.3%, petroleum refinery products slipped 0.5% and fertiliser production contracted 8.6%.

The government said the final growth rate for the core sector index in March 2026 stood at 1.2%.

For the full financial year 2025-26, the cumulative growth rate of the eight core industries stood at 2.7% compared with the previous year.

During the fiscal year, steel production registered the strongest cumulative growth at 9.5%, followed by cement at 8.7%. Electricity generation grew 1% over the same period.

On the other hand, cumulative output of crude oil and natural gas each declined 2.8% during April-March 2025-26. Coal output fell 0.5%, while refinery products and fertilisers each recorded marginal contractions of 0.1% during the year.