New Delhi Oct 3 (IANS) Output of India s eight major industries expanded exponentially in August by 4.9 per cent from a rise of 2.6 per cent during the previous month official data showed on Tuesday.
The Index of Eight Core Industries (ECI) representing the output of major industrial sectors like coal steel cement and electricity had risen by 3.1 per cent in the corresponding month of the previous year.
The ECI index carries 40.27 per cent weightage of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which is the macro-gauge for India s factory output.
"The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 123.6 in August 2017 which was 4.9 per cent higher compared to the index of August 2016 " the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in the summary of the ECI for August.
"Its cumulative growth during April to August 2017-18 was 3 per cent."
On a sector-specific basis refinery production which has the highest weightage of 28.03 per cent grew by 2.4 per cent in August 2017 as compared with the corresponding month of last year.
Electricity generation which has the second highest weightage of 19.85 rose by 10.3 per cent.
Steel production the third most important component with weightage of 17.92 increased by 3 per cent during the month under review while coal mining with a 10.33 weightage rose by 15.3 per cent in August 2017.
However extraction of crude oil which has an 8.98 weightage slipped by 1.6 per cent during the month under consideration.
On the other hand the sub-index for natural gas output with a weightage of 6.88 stood higher by 4.2 per cent.
Conversely cement production which has a weightage of 5.37 decreased by 1.3 per cent in August 2017.
Similarly fertiliser manufacturing which has the least weightage -- of only 2.63 -- dipped by 0.7 per cent.
--IANS
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