Core sector output growth rises to 7.9% in September on strong coal, refinery, power output

India's core sector output growth accelerated to 7.9% in September driven by robust performance in iron ore, electricity, coal and refinery products, according to official data released on Wednesday.

The growth in the eight core industries was higher than the 5.9% recorded in August, as per the provisional data released by the commerce and industry ministry.

Iron ore production registered the highest growth of 18.4% in September, followed by electricity at 11.4%, coal at 10.7%, refinery products at 10.3%, cement at 9.8% and steel at 4.9%.

However, fertiliser, natural gas and crude oil production contracted during the month.

The cumulative growth rate of the Index of Core Industries (ICI) during April-September 2026 stood at 5.1%, compared with 2.5% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The final index for August has been revised upwards to 120.4 from the provisional estimate of 119.2. The year-on-year growth rate for August was revised to 5.9% from 4.8% estimated earlier.

The eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — account for 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Among the major sectors, electricity, which has the highest weight of 30.93% in the core industries index, grew 11.4% in September against 13.1% in August.

Coal production grew 10.7%, recovering from a contraction of 3.8% in August. Refinery products output expanded 10.3%, accelerating from 5.6% in the previous month.

Iron ore production growth surged to 18.4% in September from 5.5% in August, while cement output growth moderated to 9.8% from 11.7%.

Steel production growth improved to 4.9% from 3.5% in August.

On the other hand, fertiliser production contracted 11.7% in September, following a sharper decline of 12.4% in August. Natural gas output fell 4.6%, while crude oil production declined 1.4% during the month.

The provisional index for October 2026 will be released on November 20, the ministry said.