Core sector growth dips to 0.5% in May; steel, cement, power shine

India's core sector growth slowed to 0.5% in May from 1.8% in April. While steel, cement, and electricity output grew, sectors like coal, crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum refinery products saw a contraction during the month.

India's combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) slowed down in May, registering a growth of 0.5 per cent as against 1.8 per cent posted in April, as per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Monday.

Despite the slowdown, the production of steel, cement, and electricity recorded positive growth last month, as per the release.

The Index of Eight Core Industries includes coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.

Furthermore, the Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

"The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 0.5 per cent (provisional) in May 2026 compared to the Index in May 2025. The production of steel, cement, and electricity recorded positive growth in May 2026," the release said.

As per the release, the cumulative growth of the core sector during April-May FY27 stood at 1.1 per cent compared with the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The final growth rate of the Index of Eight Core Industries for April 2026 was revised to 1.8 per cent.

Sector-wise Performance in May

Among the eight sectors, steel production rose 5 per cent year-on-year in May, with "its cumulative index increasing by 5.2 per cent during April to May 2026-27 over the corresponding period of the previous year."

At the same time, cement output increased 8.4 per cent and electricity generation grew 8.7 per cent.

However, production in several key sectors remained under pressure.

The coal output declined 9.3 per cent in May compared to a year ago, while crude oil production fell 4.6 per cent. Natural gas production contracted 4.9 per cent and petroleum refinery products output dropped 8.7 per cent. Fertiliser production also recorded a marginal decline of 0.9 per cent during the month.

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