The proposal to include production data of natural gas and fertilisers in the core sector index has been approved by a Committee of Secretaries (CoS). The new series, which will now have data for eight key sectors, would be released on June 10. The addition of fertilisers and natural gas will increase the weight of core sector in the index of industrial production (IIP) from 26% at present to about 37%.
FE had earlier reported that the new series ? for a more representative picture of the economy ? has been presented to CoS for approval.
Currently, the performance of the core sector is based on six key sectors ? crude oil, petroleum refinery, cement, electricity, finished steel and coal.
The government will release the core sector figures for April with a revised base year from 1993-94 to to 2004?05 on June 10.
Such a revision in the indices come in wake after the need and adoption of the revised Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and IIP. The new WPI series, with base year 2004-05 and launched in September 2010, has 241 more items than the old index. The WPI now measures a total of 676 items against 435 earlier.
