The output of eight key infrastructure sectors expanded by 3.1% in October 2024, sharply down from a 12.7% growth registered in the same month last year, data released by the Commerce Ministry said on Friday.
Further on a monthly basis, the production growth of these sectors was higher than the 2.4% expansion recorded in September 2024.
Notably, the data said the production of Coal, Refinery Products, Steel, Cement, Electricity and Fertilizers recorded positive growth in October.
The coal production marked the highest spike by 7.8% in October. It was followed by Petroleum Refinery production that increased by 5.2%.
Steel production increased by 4.2% while the cement production increased by 3.3%. Electricity generation increased by 0.6% while the Fertilizer production by 0.4%.
The Crude Oil production declined by 4.8% and the Natural Gas production declined by 1.2%.
The eight core sectors contribute 40.27% to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which measures overall industrial growth.
Further, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) also released the fiscal deficit data saying at the end of the first seven months of financial year 2024-25, fiscal deficit touched 46.5% of the full-year target.
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit was at Rs 7,50,824 crore during April-October period, the data said. The deficit stood at 45% of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of 2023-24.