New Delhi : The output of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 4.4 % in May, the highest growth rate in past six months, on the back of upsurge in production of coal and refinery products.
The output of eight core sectors had declined in the previous two months of March and April. The core sectors had expanded at a rate of 3.8 % in May 2014. The eight core industries account for 37.9% of the total weight of the Index of Industrial Production.
The growth in May 2015 was driven by healthy output of coal (7.8 %), refinery products (7.9 %) and electricity generation (5.5 %).
Crude oil production increased by 0.8 % while steel and cement grew by 2.6 %. Fertiliser output grew by 1.3 %. Natural gas, however, recorded a negative growth of 3.1 % in May 2015. In March and April, the eight sectors, which contribute 38 % to overall industrial production, had declined by 0.1 % and 0.4 % respectively.
The core sectors’ growth rate in May this year is the highest since November 2014, when these segments had expanded by 6.7 %.
During April-May period of the current fiscal, the sectors’ output expanded by 2.1 % as against 4.7 % in the same period last year. The overall growth of eight core industries in the entire 2014-15 fiscal stood at 3.5 % against 4.2 % in the previous fiscal.
The growth rate of core sector industries was on a decline since November last year. It was 6.7 % in November 2014, which fell to 2.4 % in December 2014 and then to 1.8 % in January and 1.4 % in February.
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April-May fiscal deficit at 37.5% of budget estimates
New Delhi : The fiscal deficit in the first two months of current fiscal stood at Rs 2.08 lakh crore or 37.5 per cent of Budget estimates for 2015-16. The fiscal situation during April-May, 2015-16 showed some improvement over the corresponding period of last year as the deficit then was 45.3 per cent of the Budget estimates.
The fiscal deficit — gap between expenditure and revenue — for the entire current fiscal has been pegged at Rs 5.55 lakh crore. As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts, tax revenue was Rs 19,889 crore or 2.2 per cent of the estimate. Total receipts (from revenue and non-debt capital) of the government during the two months was Rs 54,207 crore or 4.4 per cent of the estimates for the current year. It was 3.1 per cent of the estimates for 2014-15. Total expenditure of the government during April-May was Rs 2.62 lakh crore or 14.8 per cent of the entire year estimates.
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