Core sector output hits 5-month high at 5% in June
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Live Events as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel India's combined Index of Core Industries (ICI) grew 5% year-on-year in June 2026, compared with 3.2% in May, according to provisional data released by the government under the revised 2022-23 base year series.The June release marks the first publication of the revised ICI series, replacing the earlier 2011-12 base year. The revised index now covers nine core industries, with iron ore added as a new constituent alongside coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.Iron ore, electricity, cement, steel and coal recorded positive growth during the month compared with June 2025, while natural gas, crude oil, refinery products and fertilisers contracted.Iron ore production posted the strongest growth at 43.9% year-on-year in June, followed by cement and electricity, both of which grew 9.8%.
Steel output increased 4.6%, while coal production rose 1.4%.However, natural gas production declined 7.4%, refinery products contracted 4.7%, crude oil output fell 4.2%, and fertiliser production slipped 3.3% during the month.The government saidiron ore and electricity were the major driversof overall core sector growth in recent months.The cumulative growth of the Index of Core Industries during April-June 2026 stood at 3.6%
(provisional), compared with 1% in the corresponding period of the previous year.As part of the revision, the government has introduced several methodological changes. Iron ore has been included as a core industry, the steel index is now compiled using gross production instead of net production to align with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), and only raw coal has been retained
in the coal index to eliminate double counting from washed coal and coal middlings.The revised weights of the nine sectors are based on the 2022-23 IIP series, with electricity carrying the highest weight, followed by refinery products and steel. The old 2011-12 base year series has been discontinued, and the next ICI release for July 2026 is scheduled for August 20, 2026.
The BriefWire