Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Jul 23, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Economy Petroleum sector drags down Q1 infrastructure growth Our Bureau
New Delhi , July 22 THE slowdown in petroleum refining and crude production has hit the official index of infrastructure industries, which has registered a growth rate of only 4.1 per cent during the April-June quarter, compared to 6.2 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2002. During the latest recorded month of June 2003, the overall year-on-year rise in the index has been only 4.7 per cent, compared to seven per cent for June 2002. The country's total production of crude petroleum fell by 2.1 per cent to 79.95 lakh tonnes (l.t) from 81.66 l.t in April-June 2003, even as output of refined petro-products rose by 3.5 per cent from 257.46 l.t to 266.42 l.t. The year-on-year growth rates stood much higher at 7.2 per cent for crude and 6.3 per cent for refined products. While coal production rose by 3.7 per cent (6.5 per cent), there has been an improvement in the growth rate for electricity from 3.6 per cent to four per cent. During the first quarter, the country's power plants generated a total of 135.010 billion units (kilo-watt hours), compared to 129.795 billion units earlier. Production from hydel plants has fallen for a third successive year, from 16.489 billion units in April-June, 2001 to 17.241 billion units in 2002 and 16.242 billion units in 2003, reflecting declining water levels of major reservoirs. However, this has been more than offset by improved generation from thermal and nuclear units. On the other hand, cement and steel continue to do well, courtesy the ongoing boom in construction activity on account of the Government's ambitious National Highways Development Programme. Cement production at 312.97 l.t was 4.9 per cent higher than the previous year's corresponding level of 298.49 l.t, even though the growth rate has slowed down from 8.1 per cent during April-June 2002.
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