The Hindu Business Line : Infrastructure sector posts 8.7% growth in May

New Delhi, July 10 Buoyed by high growth rate in petroleum refinery product output and higher production of finished carbon steel, the index for infrastructure industries registered a growth of 8.7 per cent in May this year compared with 7.2 per cent in May 2006.

Growth in petroleum refinery products peaked to 14.9 per cent in May this year compared with 12.1 per cent during the same month of the previous year.

During the first two months of the current fiscal (April-May), the overall growth rate of refinery products is estimated at 15 per cent (12.6 per cent).

Electricity Generation

Production of finished carbon steel went up by 11.8 per cent in May (10.7 per cent), though for the April-May 2007 period the growth rate slowed down marginally to 10.1 per cent (10.4 per cent).

Electricity generation increased by 9.3 per cent (5.1 per cent) in May this year. During the April-May 2007 period, electricity generation improved by 9 per cent (5.5 per cent).

Cement production increased by 9.4 per cent (6.8 per cent) in May this year. However, for the April-May 2007 period, the over all growth rate in cement production stood at 7.4 per cent (9.4 per cent).

Petroleum Production

The growth in coal production slowed down in May this year and stood at 0.9 per cent (8.3 per cent). For the April-May 2007 period, coal production grew by 0.7 per cent (5.9 per cent).

Crude petroleum production registered a negative growth of (-)1.6 per cent during the month of May compared with a positive growth rate of 1.2 per cent in may 2006.

For the April-May 2007 period, crude petroleum production registered a negative growth rate of (-)0.1 per cent ((-)0.3 per cent).