The growth of core industry by 4.3% in March

The growth of core industry by 4.3% in March

Team Ambitiousbaba are here with a Current Affairs Special Series. In this series, candidates will be introduced to current affairs topics daily, which will not only improve their general awareness but also will ensure that the candidates do not lack in any current affairs topic. Today’s Current Affairs topic is “The growth of core industry by 4.3% in March”

The commerce and industry ministry released data for Indian’s core sector growth. India’s core sector growth slacked to 4.3% in March against its growth of 6.0% in February 2022.

The cumulative growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) recorded at 10.4% during April-March 2021-22 compared to the same year in the previous fiscal.

The production of natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity industries enhanced in March over the corresponding period of last year.

Growth of the eight core sectors in February has been changed to 6.0% from 5.8% earlier while growth in the final growth rate for December 2021 is changed to 4.1% from its provisional level of 3.8%.

Sector wise performance:

Growing sectors:

Six sectors including natural gas (7.6%), refinery products (6.2%), steel (3.7%), cement (8.8%), fertilizers (15.3%) and electricity (4.9%) recorded at a growth in the month of March.

Contracted sectors:

Coal and Crude oil sectors witnessed a contraction of 0.1% and 3.4% respectively this month on a year-on-year basis.

The fertilizer sector reported a growth of 15.3% in March 2022 against a contraction of 5% seen in March 2021 and a contraction of 1.4% in February 2022.

Index of core industries:

The index evaluates output of eight infrastructure industries – coal, crude, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, cement, steel and electricity.

The core sector comprises 40% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which getting it a lead indicator of industrial activity.

Question & Answer:

Q1. What is the growth recorded in March 2022?

Ans. 4.3%

Q2. Which sector reported highest growth March 2022?

Ans. Fertilizers (15.3%)