Infra sector growth slips to 5-mth low

New Delhi: The output of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a five-month low of 2.9% in Feb as against 7.1% growth registered a year ago, according to official data released on Friday. On monthly basis, the production growth of the core sectors was lower than 5.1% expansion recorded in Jan.
The previous low level of growth at 2.4% was recorded in Sept 2024. In Feb, production of crude oil and natural gas recorded a negative growth. The production growth of coal, refinery products, steel and electricity moderated to 1.7%, 0.8%, 5.6%, and 2.8%, respectively, against 11.6%, 2.6%, 9.4% and 7.6% in Feb last year.
However, fertiliser and cement output rose to 10.2% and 10.5%, respectively, during the month under review. The growth of eight core sectors – coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity – was 4.4% in April-Feb this fiscal. It was 7.8% in the same period last fiscal. agencies