Eight infrastructure sectors’ growth slowed down to 2 per cent in July 2025 from 6.3 per cent in the same month last year, according to official data released on Wednesday.
The core sector’s output growth was 2.2 per cent in the previous month of June. The production growth was dragged by five key sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products, which recorded a decline in output in July.
In April-July of this fiscal year, the eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 1.6 per cent, compared to 6.3 per cent during the same period last year.
Commenting on core sector data, Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA, said, “The YoY contraction in coal output widened sharply to12.3% in July 2025 from 6.8 per cent in June 2025, the steepest in over five years, weighing on the growth in the core index. Besides, while electricity generation reverted to a growth after a gap of two months, the extent of the same remained muted at just 0.5 per cent.”
Nayar added that the output of the cement and steel sectors rose by an impressive 11.7 per cent and 12.8 per cent, respectively, in July 2025, suggesting that construction activity is likely to have remained quite strong in the month.
The growth in the capex of the GoI and the states was quite robust in Q1 FY2026, which is likely to have supported the demand for construction inputs, Nayar notes