The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), which tracks coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity, accounts for 40.27% of the weight of items in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
The final growth rate of the core sector for October 2025 stood at 0.1%, revised slightly upwards from the provisional 14-month-low.
Cumulatively, core sector output expanded 2.4% during April–November 2025-26 over the corresponding period last year.
Among individual sectors, coal production rose 2.1% in November, while cement output surged 14.5% and steel production increased 6.1% during the month. Fertiliser production also posted a healthy growth of 5.6% on a year-on-year basis.
In contrast, crude oil production declined 3.2% in November, while natural gas output fell 2.5%. Petroleum refinery products recorded a marginal contraction of 0.9%, and electricity generation slipped 2.2% during the month.
On a cumulative basis for April–November 2025-26, steel and cement remained the strongest performers, with growth of 9.7% and 8.2%, respectively. Fertiliser production rose 1.3%, while refinery products saw a modest increase of 0.2%.
However, coal, crude oil, natural gas and electricity continued to lag, with cumulative declines of 1.4%, 1.3%, 3.0% and 0.3%, respectively, during the period under review.