• The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) released the Index of Eight Core Industries (Base: 2011-12=100) for the Month of April, 2020.

About:

• The growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for April 2020 declined by 38.1% (provisional) compared to decline of 9% (provisional) previous month of March 2020.

• In view of nationwide lockdown during April 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, various industries viz. Coal, Cement, Steel, Natural Gas, Refinery, Crude Oil etc. experienced substantial loss of production.

• Production of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity contracted by 15.5%, 6.4%, 19.9%, 24.2%, 4.5%, 83.9%, 86%, 22.8%, respectively.

• The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

• During 2019-20, core industries recorded 0.6% growth against 4.4% in 2018-19.