Key infra sectors growth slows to 3.8% in March

The output of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 3.8% in March, as against 6.3% growth registered a year ago, according to official data released on Monday.

On a monthly basis, the growth rate in the production of these sectors was slightly higher than the 3.4% expansion recorded in February.

In March, production of crude oil and natural gas recorded a negative growth.

The production growth of coal, refinery products, steel and electricity moderated to 1.6%, 0.2%, 7.1%, and 6.2%, respectively.

Fertiliser production rose by 8.8% in March 2025 against 1.3% contraction in the same month last year.

Cement production growth rose to 11.6% in March 2025 from 10.6% in the year-ago month.

The growth of core sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 4.4% during April-March 2024-25 fiscal. It was 7.6% in the same period last fiscal.

The eight core sectors contribute 40.27% to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which measures overall industrial growth.