The Combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) rose to a 14-month high of 12.1 percent provisionally in August this year as compared to the Index of August 2022. According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry today, the production of all Eight Core Industries namely, Cement, Coal, Crude Oil, Electricity, Fertilizers, Natural Gas, Refinery Products and Steel recorded positive growth in August 2023 over the corresponding month of last year. The figure for July has been revised upwards to 8.4 percent from 8.0 percent.

In August 2022, core sector growth was 4.2 percent. ICI measures combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.

The Final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for May 2023 is revised to 5.2 percent. The cumulative growth rate of ICI from April to August, 2023-24 is 7.7 percent (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.