India's core sector growth slows to 5.4% in July

CHENNAI: India's core industrial sectors saw slow expansion at 5.4% (provisionally) in July in the second print with the new base year of 2022-23 from the revised 6% in June, according to the official data issued on Thursday.

Key points

• The fertilisers sector contracted 8% in July compared to 3.3% in June, whereas the iron ore sector expansion slowed to 29.5% in July from 44.5% in June.
• The cumulative expansion rate during April-June 2026 was 4.3% compared to 1.5% in the corresponding period of the previous year.
• Steel output, rose at a more modest pace of 2.9%, down from 5.6% in June.
• On a cumulative basis, the eight core industries grew 4.3% during April-July, compared with expansion of 1.5% in the corresponding period of the previous year.
• The index of Core Industries data, published by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, demonstrated that July's expansion was the second-fastest in the last seven months.

For context, the index of Core Industries data, published by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, demonstrated that July's expansion was the second-fastest in the last seven months.

Notably, the cumulative expansion rate during April-June 2026 was 4.3% compared to 1.5% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Notably, the fertilisers sector contracted 8% in July compared to 3.3% in June, whereas the iron ore sector expansion slowed to 29.5% in July from 44.5% in June. The deceleration in fertilisers sector may be since of El Nino effect.

Steel output, rose at a more modest pace of 2.9%, down from 5.6% in June. By contrast, petroleum refinery products output rose 2.7% after a degrowth of 4% in June.

Natural gas production saw degrowth of 3.7% year-on-year in July, nevertheless it is better than the degrowth of 4.8% in June while crude oil output declined 5.3% from a degrowth of 4.2% in the preceding month.

Notably, refinery products reversed their trajectory, moving out of the red after three consecutive months of contraction. The sector registered expansion of 2.7% in July compared with -4% in June.

For context, the sharp improvement in the cumulative performance indicates that core-sector activity has gained momentum during the early months of the current financial year.

In short, india' s core sector growth slows to 5.4% in July is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.