Core sector posts highest growth in March since Sept.

India has witnessed production growth in the six core infrastructure industries during the month of March at 2.9%, which is the highest since September last year. The March figures indicate some amount of recovery in the Indian economy.

The figures of March are expected to cushion the fall in Index of Industrial Production (IIP), as it constitutes 27% of the index. IIP shrank by 1.2% in February 2009, the most in the last two decades. During the period of April-March 2008-09, the sector witnessed a growth of 2.7%, as against 5.9% in the year-ago period.

Core sector growth in March bettered on the back of higher output of cement and electricity, well supported by the coal and petroleum products sectors. But crude and finished carbon steel output stumbled, as against to the year-ago month, pulling down the overall growth rate of the core sector.