The core infrastructure sector grew at 4 per cent in September against 7.1 per cent growth recorded in August. However, the overall growth in the first half of the current fiscal stood at 5 per cent against 3.4 per cent registered during the same period in 2008-09.
Coal and cement, which showed signs of improvement in August by registering an impressive 12.9 per cent and 17.6 per cent growth, respectively, slipped to 6.5 per cent each in September, said the official data of six core industry — cement, coal, steel, electricity, crude, oil and petroleum refinery products — released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
In September, electricity generation grew by 7.5 per cent against 4.4 per cent in the same month last year, while petroleum refinery products output went up by 3.4 per cent during the month against 2.8 per cent. Finished steel production declined by 0.4 per cent against 2.1 per cent, while crude oil remained in the negative zone with a 0.5 per cent decline compared to minus 0.4 per cent.
