By IANS,
New Delhi : Six key sectors of the economy grew 4.5 percent in February, slower than the 9.4 percent in the previous month, official data showed Friday.
Electricity production increased 7.3 percent in February, crude oil 4 percent, petroleum refinery products 0.8 percent, coal 6.8 percent, cement 5.8 percent and finished carbon steel 0.9 percent, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry.
The six sectors have a weight of 26.7 percent in the index of industrial production (IIP) that measures the country’s factory output. These grew by only 1.9 percent in February 2009.
During April-February 2009-10, the six core industries registered a growth of 5.3 percent as against 2.9 percent during the corresponding period of the previous year.
For the first 11 months of this fiscal, coal production grew by 8 percent, electricity generation by 6.4 percent, and cement output by 10.6 percent.
Finished carbon steel production grew at 4.5 percent, while crude oil output was marginally up by 0.3 percent.
Petroleum products were the only category which saw a fall in output during the April 2009-February 2010 period, dipping by 0.4 percent.