The growth of ICI was 4.4 percent of April, 2024-25 prosecutor | Photo credit: smileus
The production of eight key infrastructure sectors improved a TAD to 3.8 percent in March against 3.4 percent in February, the government reported Monday. However, it is less than 6.3 percent of March 2024.
In March, the production of crude oil and natural gas registered a negative growth. The growth of coal production, refinery, steel and electricity products moderated to 1.6 percent, 0.2 percent, 7.1 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Fertilizer production increased 8.8 percent in March 2025 against 1.3 % of contraction in the same month last year. The growth of cement production increased to 11.6 percent in March 2025 of 10.6 percent in the month of the previous year.
The index of eight central industries (ICI) is the measure of the combined and individual performance of the production of eight central industries: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity. Its growth was 4.4 percent. It was 7.6 percent in the same period as the last prosecutor. The eight central industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of the items included in the Industrial Production Index (IIP).
Aditi Nayar, chief economist of ICRA pointed out that the increase in central sector performance was mainly due to the greatest growth in electricity generation amid increasing temperatures. In taught terms, the sequential trend, quite mixed, with fertilizers, coal, natural gas and refinery products that report a moderation in their interannual growth in March 2025 the previous month. “According to the expansion in the central sector, ICRA expects the IIPA growth to print at 3.0-3.5 percent in March 2025,” he said.
Posted on April 21, 2025