Eight Core Industries Contracted At A Slower Pace In June

India’s core sectors continued to contract in June, but at a slower pace than in the previous month.

The index of eight core sector industries fell 15% year-on-year in June, according to data by the Office of Economic Advisor on Friday. The index fell 22% in May as per the revised estimates compared to the initial estimate of a 23.4% contraction.

On a cumulative basis, the index contracted by 24.6% in the April- June 2020 period.

All industries excluding fertilizers saw a contraction in June. Contraction in coal output deepened compared to the preceding month.

• Coal output contracted by 15.5% in June 2020 compared to a contraction of 14% in May 2020.
• Crude oil continued to contract by 6% versus a contraction of 7.1% in the previous month.
• Natural gas contracted 12% in June, compared to 16.8% in the preceding month.
• Refinery products, which have the highest weightage in the core sector index at 28%, contracted by 8.9%, after a contraction of 21.3% last month.
• Fertilizer output grew by 4.2% in June 2020, as against a growth of 7.5% in the previous month.
• Steel production saw the steepest contraction among all core industries. It fell 33.8% in June after growing by 43.1% in May.
• Cement output contracted by 6.9%, after declining by 21.4% the previous month.
• Electricity contracted by 11% in June against a contraction of 14.8% in the previous month.