Electricity is the primary sector growth leader

New Delhi: Eight major industries, including sectors like coal, cement, steel and electricity, grew by 6.3 per cent in May this year compared to the same month last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Friday. Electricity production registered a solid growth of 12.8 per cent in May compared to the same month last year. Coal production also registered a double-digit growth of 10.2 per cent in May, while steel production grew by 7.6 per cent during the month.

Natural gas production also increased by 7.5% in May 2024 compared to May 2023, helping the country to increase its use of the green fuel in the transportation sector and home kitchens. Oil refinery production increased by 0.5% in May 2024 compared to the same month last year.

However, fertilizer production fell by 1.7 percent in May.

The data shows that the cumulative growth rate of the index of eight key industries during April-May 2024-2025 increased by 6.5% compared to the same period last year.

These primary industries constitute 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and are an indicator of the overall industry growth rate.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry also announced that the final growth rate of the Eight Major Industries Index for February 2024 has been revised to 7.1% as the numbers have been updated with new incoming data.