Coal news and updates

India’s core sector index up 1.7% y-o-y in November

January 1: The index of eight core industries, which have a combined weightage of 37.90% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), stood at 153.5 in November 2013, which was 1.7% higher compared to the index value in November 2012.

In October, 2013, however, the index of eight core sectors had contracted by 0.6% y-o-y.

All the core sectors, except natural gas and petroleum refinery products, increased during the month, according to provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The coal sector (weight: 4.38%), grew by 2.3% in November 2013 over November 2012. The coal production cumulative index during April to November 2013-14 increased by 1.5% over corresponding period of the previous year. In October, however, coal production declined by 3.9% y-o-y.

Crude Oil production (weight: 5.22%) increased slightly by 1.1% in November 2013 over November 2012. The cumulative index of crude oil during April-November 2013-14 moderated by 0.9% over the corresponding period of the previous year. In October, crude oil production had dropped by 0.8%.

The growth rate of natural gas production (weight: 1.71%) declined by 11.3% in November 2013 over November 2012. In October too, natural gas production had declined 13.6% y-o-y, registering a marginal increase on a month-on-month basis.

Among others, steel production (weight: 6.68%) clocked a growth of 3.9% in November 2013 over November 2012, while cement production (weight: 2.41%) registered a sharp growth of 4.2% year-on-year in November, 2013. Electricity generation (weight 10.32%) growth increased 5.9% in November 2013 over the period of November 2012.