India’s eight core industries grew 1.7% in April 2026, supported by higher production of cement, steel and electricity, even as coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and fertilisers recorded a decline during the month.
According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 20 May, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries increased to 166.0 in April 2026, compared with 163.3 in April 2025. The April figure is provisional.
The eight core industries comprise coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. Together, these sectors account for 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.
Cement recorded the highest growth among the eight sectors, with production rising 9.4% in April 2026 over the same month last year.
Steel production increased by 6.2%, while electricity generation rose 4.1%.
However, five sectors contracted during the month.
Coal production declined 8.7%, while fertiliser production fell 8.6%.
Natural gas output declined 4.3%, crude oil production fell 3.9% and petroleum refinery production was down 0.5%.
The April 2026 growth of 1.7% was higher than the final 1.2% growth recorded in March 2026.
However, it remained below the 2.8% growth recorded in February 2026 and lower than several stronger growth months seen during 2025-26, including 6.5% growth in August 2025, according to official monthly core sector data.
The ministry said the final growth rate of the Index of Eight Core Industries for March 2026 stood at 1.2%.
The cumulative growth rate for April to March 2025-26 was 2.7% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
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For the full financial year 2025-26, steel and cement remained the strongest performers.
Steel recorded cumulative growth of 9.5%, while cement grew 8.7%.
Electricity generation rose 1.0% during the same period.
The latest official data indicates that construction-linked sectors such as steel and cement continued to support overall core sector growth during 2025-26, while energy-linked sectors including coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products remained under pressure.
Coal output declined 0.5% during April-March 2025-26, while crude oil and natural gas each declined 2.8%.
Refinery products and fertilisers recorded marginal declines of 0.1% each during the financial year.
The ministry said data for March 2026 is final, while data for April 2026 is provisional.
The index numbers are revised or finalised as updated data is received from source agencies.
The next release of the Index of Eight Core Industries, covering May 2026, is scheduled for 22 June 2026.
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