Date:04/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040456861900.htm

Business

Core sector growth bounces back

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Even as high inflation has been the spoilsport in the UPA Government’s growth party in recent months, the six core infrastructure industries bounced back with a doubling in growth rate to 8.7 per cent in February from a low of 4.2 per cent clocked just a month earlier. In particular, aiding the rebound were the robust performances by three out of the six industries — coal, power and cement — which enabled a healthier show during the month as compared to the 7.6-per cent growth notched up in February 2007.

With three other industrial segments, namely, steel, crude petroleum and petroleum refinery products, making up the core infrastructure sector with a weightage of 26.68 in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the sector’s turnaround could well arrest the slowdown in certain manufacturing segments and help in spurring the country’s industrial as well as overall economic growth.