India’s key infrastructure sectors saw a growth of just 3.1% in October 2024, a sharp decline from the 12.7% recorded in the same month last year, according to official data. On a monthly basis, however, production growth in these sectors was higher than the 2.4% recorded in September 2024. In October, sectors such as crude oil, natural gas, coal, fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity saw moderated growth compared to the previous year. Coal production grew by 7.8%, while steel production expanded by just 4.2%.

In contrast, output in refinery products grew by 5.2%. The core sectors, including coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, steel, cement, and electricity, contributed 40.27% to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which tracks overall industrial growth. Between April and October, the growth of core sectors slowed to 4.1% from 8.8% during the same period last year.