Infrastructure sector expands 5.2% in June

New Delhi: Infrastructure sector grew at 5.2 per cent in June, fastest in two months, on the back of double-digit growth in coal and cement sectors. [caption id=“attachment_2737540” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The eight infrastructure sectors – coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity – had expanded by 3.1 per cent in June 2015. The eight core sectors comprise nearly 38 per cent of the total industrial production. The cumulative growth during the first quarter of the current fiscal was 5.4 per cent. These eight core sector industries had expanded by 3.1 per cent in June 2015. The core sector had expanded by 2.8 per cent in May, slowest in 2016. As per the data released by the government, coal production increased by 12 per cent in June year-on-year. Similarly, cement production saw a double digit expansion in June (10.3 per cent) over the same in 2015. Fertilizer production increased 9.8 per cent in June (though slower than the previous month) while petroleum refinery production expansed of 3.5 per cent. The growth in electricity generation was 8.1 per cent on annual basis. Steel production, with a weight 6.68 per cent in the index, also increased by 2.4 per cent. Natural gas output dipped 4.5 per cent and crude oil production fell by 4.3 per cent in June.