According to a data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry, the growth of the core eight sectors slowed down to a three-month low in March 2018 by 4.1 percent. The decline of growth rate is due to the weak performance in some of the sectors.

The core sectors which showed weak performance are refinery products, steel, coal, crude oil, natural gas, electricity.

The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The mixed Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 138 as of March 2018, which is 4.1 percent higher as compared against the March 2017 index. Its cumulative growth during April to March 2017-2018 is recorded at 4.2 percent.

The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors is recorded at 4.1 percent in March 2018, a decline of 21.15 percent, as against 5.2 percent in March 2017.

Apart from March 2018, the previous low was witnessed during December 2017 at 3.8 percent.

The eight core sectors witnessed growth to the rate of 4.2 percent during April 2017-March 2018. The growth rate was recorded at 4.8 percent in April 2016-March 2017 and 3 percent during April 2015-March 2016 respectively.

The production of Fertilizers increased by 3.2 percent in March 2018, over March 2017. Its cumulative index increased by 0.03 percent during April 2017 to March 2018 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement production also increased by 13.0 percent in March 2018, over March 2017. Its cumulative index increased by 6.3 percent during April 2017 to March 2018 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The growth of Electricity generation saw a decline of 4.5 percent in March 2018 as compared against 6.2 percent during March 2017.

The steel sector also saw a decline to the tune of 4.7 percent in March 2018 as against 11.0 percent in March 2017.

Coal sector witnessed a flat decrease to the tune of (1.6) percent during March 2018 as against 0.9 percent during March 2017.