Core sector output slows down to 4.5% in July
The Hindu
Overall output levels were 2.3% lower than June 2022
India’s eight core sectors’ output growth dropped to a six-month low of 4.5% in July from 13.2% in June, with crude oil and natural gas output declining from a year ago and growth in sectors like cement and electricity dropping to around 2%.
Overall output levels were 2.3% lower than June 2022 and the Index of eight core industries slipped to 140.7, the lowest level since this March. The Commerce and Industry Ministry also revised its estimates for core sectors' growth in April to 9.5% from the provisional figure of 8.4%.
The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity — was 11.5% in April-July this fiscal against 21.4% a year ago.
(With PTI inputs)
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The Union Budget unveiled on February 1, 2025, has come at a time of unprecedented global uncertainty and a flagging domestic economy. The real GDP growth is estimated at 6.4% for 2024-25 and between 6.3-6.8% for 2025-26, a far cry from >8 percent growth required annually to make India a developed nation by 2047. While much attention has been devoted to the demand stimulus through income tax cuts, not enough is said about the proposed reforms in urban development, tariff rationalisation, and regulatory simplification aimed at making Indian cities and corporates more competitive. Since the majority of economic activity is located in cities (urban areas account for ~55% of GDP) and produced by large corporates (~40% of the national output and 55% of India’s exports), the above-mentioned reforms have a pivotal role in improving India’s trend growth rate. Below we unpack each reform.