New Delhi, Mar 28 (IANS): The eight core industries that include sectors such as coal, cement, steel and electricity posted a 6.7 per cent growth in February this year compared to the same month of the previous year, according to an official figures released on Thursday.

The eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and therefore give a good indication of the overall industrial growth rate.

Both cement and coal posted a robust double digit growth in production of 10.2 per cent and 11.6 per cent respectively in February. Steel production recorded an 8.4 per cent increase during the month while electricity generation, which has a 19.85 per cent weight in the index, increased by 6.3 per cent.

Crude Oil production increased by 7.9 per cent in February while natural gas production increased by 11.3 per cent. Petroleum Refinery production, which has a weight of 28.04 per cent in the index, clocked a 2.6 per cent increase in production during the month.

However, fertilizer production declined by 9.5 per cent during February.

The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for November 2023 has been revised to 7.9 per cent.

The cumulative growth rate of the index of core industries during April to February, 2023-24 now works out to 7.7 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year.