India’s core sector growth rises to five-month high of 5% in June

Production growth of nine core infrastructure sectors rose to a five-month high of 5 per cent in June due to an increase in output of cement, electricity and iron ore, official data released on Monday showed.

The core sectors' growth was 1.1 per cent in June 2025 and 3.2 per cent in May 2026.

The data has been released with a new base year, 2022-23, replacing the earlier base year of 2011-12. The government has also added iron ore to the index, increasing the number of core sectors to nine.

According to the official data, production of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and fertiliser declined during the month.

On the other hand, production of cement and electricity rose by 9.8 per cent each, and of iron ore, which has been included in the index under the new series, jumped by 43.9 per cent in June.

Coal output rose by 1.4 per cent in June against a 6.8 per cent contraction in the same month last year. Steel output growth slowed down to 4.6 per cent from 10.2 per cent in June 2025.

During April-June 2026-27, the key sectors expanded by 3.6 per cent against 1 per cent in the same period last year.

The commerce and industry ministry, in a statement, said that owing to intensive use of iron ore in the production process and its contribution to industrial development, it has been included in the list of core industries as a new item in the revised series.

Commenting on the data, ICRA Ltd said the pickup in June was not broad-based and was led by an improvement in the performance of just four of the nine sectors.

It added that fertiliser output contracted for the fourth consecutive month, likely reflecting the continued adverse impact of the West Asia tensions, while the growth in steel output slumped to a 21-month low of 4.6 per cent in the month.