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The overall growth rate of the six core sectors for the April-August period in the current fiscal has dropped to 3.8 per cent as compared to the much healthier 7.3 per cent growth clocked in the same period in the previous fiscal.

New Delhi , Sept. 23

EVEN as the economy continues to be on a strong recovery path, the six core infrastructure industries are likely to act as the stumbling block and decelerate the growth trend.

The overall performance of the infrastructure industries, namely, crude petroleum, petroleum refinery products, coal, cement, finished steel and electricity - has been dismal in each of the five months this fiscal as compared to the same period in 2002-03.

As a result, the overall growth rate of the six industries for the April-August period in the current fiscal has dropped to 3.8 per cent as compared to the much healthier 7.3 per cent growth clocked in the same period in the previous fiscal.

Although all the growth rate figures for the current year are provisional, a statement issued today by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion reveals that the overall growth achieved in each of the five months are significantly lower as compared to the like months in the previous year.

This year, against a growth of 3.9 per cent in April, four per cent in May, 4.7 per cent in June, 2.6 per cent in July and 3.7 per cent in August, the comparative growth rates during the same months in 2002-03 were higher at 5.4 per cent, 5.5 per cent, seven per cent, 10.2 per cent and 7.4 per cent, respectively.

Particularly responsible for the comparative poor performance this year have been sectors such as crude petroleum, coal, cement, steel and electricity and, to a lesser extent, petroleum refinery products. Against a cumulative growth rate of 6.3 per cent in the production of crude petroleum during April-August 2002-03, the growth in the same period this fiscal has been a negative 1.9 per cent. In petroleum refinery, the growth rate this year has been marginally lower at 5.2 per cent as compared to the 6.2 per cent growth witnessed last year.

In the coal sector, the production growth rate has more than halved from 7.6 per cent last year to a mere 3.5 per cent this year.

The disparity in growth rate is far more acute in cement production. Against a robust growth of 11.6 per cent during the five months last year, the growth in the same period this year has been just 4.7 per cent as the output has only been marginally higher at 50,355,000 tonnes as against 48,089,000 tonnes last year.

Similarly, the growth rate in finished steel production was also lower at 8.1 per cent as compared to the growth of 11.2 per cent in the same period last year. In the electricity sector too, the growth in generation was a notch lower at 2.3 per cent this year as compared to 4.2 per cent in the five months the previous year.

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