New Delhi : Eight core industries registered a negative growth of 0.1 % in March, the lowest performance in 17 months, due to a steep decline in production of steel, cement and refinery products. The output had expanded by 4 % in March 2014. The previous low logged by the core industries was in October 2013 at (-) 0.6 %.
The growth of eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, electricity, steel and cement — was 1.4% in February 2015. For the full 2014-15 fiscal, the production growth of eight sectors also slowed down to 3.5 %, from 4.2 % in previous financial year ended in March, 2014.
“The stagnation in core sector output and contraction in merchandise trade … leading us to expect a moderation in industrial growth,” rating agency ICRA said. The growth rate of core sector industries has been declining 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.
The sectors contribute 38% to the overall industrial production, a parameter that the Reserve Bank takes into account while framing its monetary policy.
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MTNL to offer free unlimited local night calls from landline
State-run telecom operator MTNL said it is introducing unlimited free local calling at night for its landline and broadband customers to any network, effective tomorrow.
“The free unlimited calling facility is also available for Delhi MTNL landline customers to any network to Mumbai and vice versa during the same hours,” it said. The STD call charges have also been made local by making call charges rate at 180 sec/pulse, it added. According to data from telecom regulator Trai, MTNL had 11.4 lakhs wired Broadband service subscribers as of February this year.
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