Top News

New Delhi, August 20 (IANS). The growth rate of India's Combined Index for Major Industries (ICI) was 5.4 percent on an annual basis in July. The reason for this is the rapid increase in iron ore, cement and electricity production. This information was given by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.

The cement sector witnessed a strong growth of 13.1 per cent this month as demand remained strong due to heavy government investment in big infrastructure projects like highways, ports and railways.

There was a huge increase of 29.5 percent in iron ore production in July. Considering the large-scale use of iron ore in the production process and its contribution to industrial growth, it has been included as a new item in the list of key industries in the new series of ICI. Due to this, the number of main industries in the new series has increased from eight to nine. It came into effect only last month.

According to the data, electricity production increased by 9 percent in July, while coal production increased by 7.6 percent. The production of steel and refinery products increased by 2.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively during the month.

However, natural gas, crude oil and fertilizers witnessed a decline in growth rates in July this year.

According to the government statement, the final index for the month of June 2026 has been changed from 119.6 (tentative estimate) to 120.7. Due to this, the growth rate on annual basis has changed from 5 percent to 6 percent.

The cumulative growth rate of ICI in April-July 2026 has been 4.3 percent, which was 1.5 percent in the same period last year.

The Office of the Economic Advisor of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had released the revised ICI series for the first time in July this year for June data with the base year of 2022-23. This new series has replaced the old CIC series with base year 2011-12.

–IANS

abs