Coal, cement & steel production declined but power up in June-07

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Growth of six core-infrastructure industries in India declined by 2.4 per cent in June-2007 compared with the corresponding month of last year, provisional data released by government today said.

The sectors which pulled down growth are coal, cement and steel and also crude petroleum and petroleum refinery products as revealed by the data. Electricity generation, however, bucked the trend and recorded growth.

These six core-infrastructure industries have a combined weight of 26.7 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) of India.

With 1993-94 as its base, IIP in respect of these six industries stood at 223.1 points in June-2007, registering a growth of 5.3 per cent as compared to 7.7 per cent in June-2006, the data statement said.

The growth also declined by half a per cent during April-June quarter of current fiscal to 6.9 per cent from 7.4 per cent recorded during the corresponding period of the previous year, the statement added.

It was a dismal scenario on coal production front. While in comparable June of the two years the production declined by over ten per cent, the quarterly decline was over 7 per cent. It recorded a measly growth of just 1.3 per cent in June-2007 compared to a healthy 11.8 per cent in June-2006. It grew by 0.7 per cent during first quarter of current fiscal compared to 8 per cent in April-June of 2006-07.

Growth in cement production declined by more than 50 per cent from 11.7 per cent in June-2006 to 5.6 per cent in June-2007, adversely affecting the quarterly growth also. It grew by 6.8 per cent during April-June of current fiscal compared to 10.2 per cent during the same period last year.

Similar decline was witnessed in production of finished (carbon) steel. It grew by 5.6 per cent in June-2007 compared to 10.2 per cent in June-2006. Quartely growth also declined as per government data. The growth was 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of current fiscal compared to 10.3 per cent during the same period of 2006-07.

The country's crude petroleum production declined by 1.8 per cent in June-2007 compared to a growth rate of 1.2 per cent in June-2006. The decline during April-June quarter of current financial year was 0.7 per cent compared to 0.2 per cent during the same period of 2006-07.

Growth of petroleum refinery production also declined by 0.7 per cent during the comparable June of 2007 and 2006. It was 9.8 per cent in June-2007 compared to 10.5 per cent in June-2006. But in terms of quarterly result, it, however, recorded a growth of 1.3 per cent. From 11.9 per cent in April-June quarter of 2006-07, it went up to 13.2 per cent during first quarter of current fiscal.

However, electricity generation bucked the trend and registered a growth of 6.8 per cent in June-2007 compared to 4.9 per cent in the corresponding month of 2006. For the comparable quarters, it grew by 8.3 per cent this year compared to growth of 5.3 per cent last year.

UNI