Core Sector Grows 3.8% in March

India’s infrastructure output, which constitutes about two-fifths of the country’s industrial production, increased by 3.8 percent in March this year on an annual basis. The production of cement, fertilisers, steel, electricity, coal and refinery products recorded positive growth during last month.

Meanwhile, the cumulative growth rate of the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) during the financial year 2025 stood at 4.4 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

According to provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,



cement production increased by 11.6 percent, fertilisers witnessed an uptick of 8.8 percent, steel production increased by 7.1 percent, electricity gained 6.2 percent, coal production climbed by 1.6 percent, and petroleum refinery products rose slightly by 0.2 percent on an annual basis. Conversely, natural gas declined by 12.7 percent in comparison to the same month last year, and crude oil slipped 1.9 percent in March 2025.

The eight core industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.