Steel, power help infra sector surge to 8-month high at 6.5%

According to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry, the eight industries — coal, refinery products, steel, natural gas, cement, electricity, fertiliser and crude oil — grew 3.7 per cent during April-October 2012, against 4.3 per cent during the same period of the last financial year.

During October, production of refinery products grew 20.3 per cent against 10.3 per cent during September while the production of steel also grew 5.9 per cent during the month against 2 per cent in the last month. The production in the two sectors stood at -2.9 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively during October 2011.

Similarly, electricity generation during October registered growth of 5.2 per cent as against 3.9 per cent in September while 5.3 per cent in October 2011.

However, experts said that the growth during the month is essentially due to base effect and does not reflect the real growth in the economic activities. The core sector recorded a 5 per cent growth in September. While the growth in coal sector was low at 10.9 per cent against 21.4 per cent in September, cement production grew 6.8 per cent in October against 13.8 per cent in September.

The production in

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