India’s infrastructure sector growth slowed to 0.5% in May from 1.2% a year earlier as contractions in coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products offset strong growth in steel, cement and electricity output, according to official data released on Monday.The Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), which tracks coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity, grew 0.5% in May on a year-on-year basis. The eight sectors account for 40.27% of the weight of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).The final growth rate for April was revised to 1.8%, while cumulative growth in the core sector during April-May FY27 stood at 1.1%, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry.“The production of Steel, Cement, and Electricity recorded positive growth in May 2026,” the ministry said.Coal output contracted 9.3% in May compared with the same month last year, while crude oil production declined 4.6% and natural gas output fell 4.9%.Petroleum refinery products, the heaviest-weighted segment in the index with a 28.04% share, recorded an 8.7% decline during the month. Fertiliser production also slipped 0.9%.Among the gainers, steel production rose 5% year-on-year, cement output increased 8.4%, while electricity generation posted the strongest growth of 8.7%.For the first two months of the current financial year, steel output grew 5.2%, cement production expanded 8.3% and electricity generation increased 7.1%.Coal production declined 9.1% during April-May, while crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and fertilisers recorded cumulative contractions of 4.2%, 4.5%, 4.7% and 4.5%, respectively.The government said data for May are provisional and will be revised based on updated information received from source agencies.The next set of core sector data for June will be released on July 20.
