Core sectors growth slows down to 4% in Jan

New Delhi, Feb 20: Production growth of India's eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a two-month low of 4 per cent in January, according to official data released on Friday.

It was 5.1 per cent in January 2025 and 4.7 per cent in December 2025.

Crude oil and natural gas output recorded negative growth in January. Production of refinery products remained flat. Production growth of coal and cement moderated to 3.1 per cent and 10.7 per cent during the month under review against 4.6 per cent and 14.3 per cent, respectively, in January 2025.

However, fertiliser, steel and electricity output recorded a positive growth during the month. During the April-January period of this fiscal, growth of core sector industries was down to 2.8 per cent, compared with 4.5 per cent recorded during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Commenting on the data, Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA Ltd, said the slowdown was broad-based, with as many as seven of the 8 sectors witnessing a deterioration in their YoY growth performance. "Given the trends in core output, IIP (Index of Industrial Production) growth is likely to slow down in January, although we expect the growth in the non-core part of the IIP to continue to outperform core industries' output, as was the trend in Q3 FY2026," she said.