Slowdown in India’s core sector growth

According to the recently released official data, there has been a mere 5.1% growth in May’19 in India’s
8 core sectors. This is attributed to slowing growth in coal and refinery products. The refinery
sector saw a retrenchment of 1.5% compared with a growth of 4.3% in the previous month. The coal
sector also saw growth dipping to 1.8% from 3.2% over the same period. The crude oil sector was hit by a
continued contraction for the eighteenth consecutive month in May, with growth contracting by 6.96% in
that month compared with a contraction of 6.75% in April. The fertilizer sector shrank by 1.03%,
compared with a contraction of 4.4% in April; while the natural gas sector remained static. However, on
the brighter side, the cement sector recorded a (subdued) growth of 2.75%, the electricity sector grew
at 7.23% and the steel sector grew at 19.8% over the same period.