India's August infrastructure output contracts 8.5% y/y- govt
Wednesday,
30-Sep-2020
05:22 PM (IST)
India’s infrastructure output contracted for the sixth straight month in August, as production of petroleum refinery products and electricity shrank at a faster pace, government data showed today. Infrastructure output contracted 8.5% in August. The print for July was revised to a contraction of 8% from previously reported fall of 9.6%. The reading for May was also revised to 21.4% contraction from 22% fall reported earlier. The core index, as it is commonly called and has a revised combined weight of over 40% in the index of industrial output, indicates the momentum of overall manufacturing activity in the economy. Infrastructure output contracted 17.8% on year in the first five months of this fiscal year that started Apr. 1, versus a 2.5% expansion for the same period a year earlier. Electricity output, which has a 19.85% weight in the core sector index, contracted 2.7% in August, faster than July’s revised 2.5% decline, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed. Production of petroleum refinery products, which has the highest 28.04% weight in the index, fell 19.1% annually in August, compared with an 13.9% fall in July. Steel production contracted 6.3% on year in August, the pace slowing from a revised 8.3% contraction in July, the data showed. Cement production fell 14.6% in August, compared with last month’s 13.5% annual contraction. Coal production expanded 3.6% in August, rebounding from last month’s 5.7% annual contraction, while crude oil output fell 6.3% versus a 4.9% decline in July, the data showed. Fertilizer output in August rose 7.3%, gaining pace from 6.9% annual expansion in July. Natural gas production fell 9.5% in August as compared with a 10.2% fall in the previous month, the data showed. These data are provisional and can be revised later.
|