The output of India’s eight core sectors declined to a four-month low of 8.1% in September against 8.3% last year, government data showed on Tuesday.

The Index of eight core Industries measures combined and individual performance of production of cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilisers, natural gas, refinery products and steel. The eight industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.

The core sector growth in August was 12.1%, the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2%. The previous low was recorded in May, when the growth rate of these sectors stood at 5.2%. In June, the growth rate of the core industries was 8.4%.

In September, production in coal grew by 16.1% against 17.9% in August. Crude oil production declined by 0.4% as compared to 2.1% in August. The production growth rate declined in refinery products (5.5%), cement (4.7%) and electricity (9.3%). Only the fertiliser sector showed an increase in growth production at 4.2% in September from 1.8% in August.

Steel production grew by 9.6% in September against a 10.9% growth in August, while the growth rate of natural gas production last month was 6.5% as compared to 10% in August.

The output of the core industries grew by 7.8% in April-September 2023, as compared to 9.8% in the same period last year.