The Eight Core Industries

#GS-03 Economy

Core industries:

Core Industries of an economy are the main or the key industries which determine the strength of an economy.
They make up for about 27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
The eight core sector industries in decreasing order of their weightage are:
Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is calculated by evaluating the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period of time with respect to that during a chosen base period.
India’s first official attempt to compute the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was done way before the first recommendation on the subject came at the international level.
Central Statistical Organization, currently known as National Statistics Office (NSO), has been compiling and publishing IIP since the inception of the in 1951.
IIP has been broadly classified into 3 sectors, viz, Mining, manufacturing, and electricity.
It can also be divided based on usage into 3 viz, Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods.

The ICI is prepared and released by the Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
ICI is a measure of the individual and collective performances of production in the eight core industries.

India’s eight core sectors showed an output growth of 4% in November from a revised estimate of a 0.9% uptick in October.
Cement sector showed a sharp recovery in output from a 3% contraction in October to a rise of 28.6% in November.
Steel output grew at 8%, which was the fastest pace in six months, however, production levels were 2.35% lower than the levels in October 2022.
Fertilizer production grew 4% from the levels in November 2021.
This was alongside the rise of coal and electricity production levels to 3% and 12.1%, respectively.
However, refinery products hit a 21-month low point, contracting 9.3% in November, compared to a 1% contraction in October.
Crude oil output reduced for the sixth consecutive month, shrinking 1.1% in November.
Also, natural gas production fell 0.7%, which marks the fifth consecutive month of contraction.