India's Core Sector Growth Rises To 3.8% In March, Driven By Strong Cement, Steel Output

The output of India's eight core sectors increased 3.8% year-on-year in March, as compared to a revised growth of 3.4% in February, according to the official data released on Monday.

The sequential improvement was driven by strong monthly output logged in the cement and steel sectors.

The cement output grew by 11.6% on an annualised basis in March, compared to 10.8% in the preceding month, whereas, steel sector logged a growth of 7.1% as against 6.9% in February.

A sharp uptick was also seen in power generation, as electricity output rose by 6.2% in March as compared to a 3.6% growth in February.

Apart from cement, steel and electricity, India's eight core sectors also comprise of fertilisers, refinery products, natural gas, crude oil and coal. These eight sectors comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.

In March, the fertilisers output rose by 8.8%, lower as compared to 10.2% growth in February. The growth in refinery products sector was muted, with the output rising by only 0.2% as against 0.8% in the preceding month.

The degrowth in natural gas output continued, as it shrunk by 12.7% in March after decelerating by 6% in February. Crude oil output contracted by 1.9% after a a slip of 5.2% in the preceding month.

Meanwhile, coal output grew at 1.6% in March, similar to 1.7% growth in February.

For the entire financial year ended March 31, 2025, India's core sector output grew by 4.4%, which is the slowest since fiscal 2021. In the preceding fiscal, the output had risen by 7.6%. The growth rate stood at 7.8% in fiscal 2023 and 10.4% in fiscal 2022.