Economic slowdown: Core sector output shrinks fourth month in a row in November

The output of eight core sectors of the economy fell for a third straight month in November, contracting by 1.5 per cent as key sectors like refinery products and electricity continued to see slow growth or contraction.

Output had crashed by a record 5.8 per cent and 5.2 per cent over the preceding two months as a broad-based decline gripped most sectors. As a result, the core sectors saw nil cumulative growth till November in the current fiscal year (FY20), down from 5.1 per cent in the previous year.

Economists warned that the latest figures indicated that the industrial slowdown would take time to recede. The above 5 per cent contractions had been unprecedented in the index's history, on either the FY12 or FY05 bases of calculating the data. “This is first instance of eight core infrastructure industries production contracting in three consecutive months in FY12 base. Most disappointing has been the contraction of electricity output in four consecutive months, which is a reflection of state of the economy,” said Devendra Pant, chief economist at India Ratings.