Core sector growth drops sharply in March

Output growth in eight core industries slowed to 2 per cent in March against 6.5 per cent in the year-ago period. In February, the eight infrastructure industries grew by 6.8 per cent. The fall was largely on account of a drop in output in the crude oil, petroleum refinery production and natural gas sectors. During the fiscal year 2012, the cumulative growth rate of the core sector industries was 4.3 per cent against 6.6 per cent in 2010-11.