Perspective - Indian Economy: Growth in Core Sectors

In this episode of the Perspective Prog. based on Indian Economy: Growth in Core Sectors. For the second month in a row, output from India’s eight core sectors has shown acceleration. It rose by 11.6%, in August, compared to a 6.9% contraction a year ago. Although crude oil and fertiliser output has declined, 4 out of 8 core sectors registered strong double-digit growth..according to the Index of Eight Core Industries released by DPIIT. The ICI measures the combined and individual production in 8 core industries that include Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity. These 8 Core Industries make up 40.27 per cent weight of the items included in the IIP or the Index of Industrial Production. The August output of ICI was 3.9% higher than pre-COVID levels, compared to July that recorded a 1.1% uptick above 2019 levels. Cement production jumped 36% compared to a 14.5% contraction in August 2020, while coal and natural gas registered a 20.6% surge. Electricity and refinery products grew by 15.3% and 9.1%, and Steel output grew 5.1%. Core sector output had grown 9.9% in July and 9.3% in June. The growth rate of the Index of eight Core industries for May has been revised to 16.4% from its earlier provisional level of 16.8%. In this episode we will discuss and analyse the reasons behind this growth and its impact on overall economic recovery.

Guests:
1- Ajay Dua, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
2- Prof. Charan Singh, CEO, EGROW Foundation
3- Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, Consulting Editor, The Business Standard

Anchor: Vishal Dahiya

Producer: Amit Srivastav, Sagheer Ahmad