Lok Sabha Question No. 139 (STARRED), answered on 2021-02-10
Subject: Low Growth Rate in Core Sectors
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Kalyan Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. 139.

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2021.

## LOW GROWTH RATE IN CRORE SECTORS

## *139.  SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

## Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether there is a dip in the growth of core sectors in the country;
- (b) whether it is also a fact that consecutively for four halves from 2019, industry output average decline recorded an eight years low productivity;
- (c)    if so, the productivity data of Coal, Steel, Petroleum, Refinery products, Gas, Fertilizers,  Cement and Electricity outputs for the last six months; and
- (d) the reasons behind negative growth therein and the action taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्री (श्री पीयूष गोयल) THE MINISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  THE  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 139 FOR ANSWER ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2021.

- (a) to (c): Department  for  Promotion  of  Industry  and  Internal  Trade  releases every  month  an  Index  of  Eight  Core  Industries  (ICI).    This  is  a production volume  index and  measures  collective and  individual performance of production in selected eight core industries viz. Coal, Crude Oil,  Natural  Gas,  Refinery  Products,  Fertilizers,  Steel,  Cement and Electricity.

After  a  decline  in  the  first  half  of  financial  year  2020-21  due  to Covid-19, the overall growth rate of production of eight core industries started showing signs of recovery during October to December 2020. The annual and half yearly (H1 and H2) growth rate in the eight core industries  since  2012-13  and  the  Production  data  for  eight  core industries since June 2020 are at Annex.

- (d): Industrial growth depends on a number of factors including structural, external, fiscal and industrial factors. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 had severely impacted some of the major economies of the world, including India, USA, European Union, UK and Japan.  In India too,  various  sectors  were  affected  due  to  the  nation-wide  lockdown. However,  after  the  lockdown  was  relaxed,  improvement  has  been witnessed in several sectors of the economy.

The  Government  has  implemented  several  major  reforms  in  recent years  to  boost  industrial  production  and  GDP  growth.  It  has  enacted the  Insolvency  and  Bankruptcy  Code  (IBC)  and  recapitalized  the banks. The other prominent measures include Goods and Services Tax (GST) to simplify the indirect taxation regime, Make-in-India programme to boost domestic manufacturing capacity, liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) Trinity towards greater transparency, efficiency and financial inclusion. In September, 2019 the corporate tax rate was reduced to 15 per cent for  new  domestic  manufacturing  companies,  which  is  amongst  the lowest  in  the  world.  In  December  2019,  the  government  announced Rs.103 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline which would significantly  boost  infrastructure  and  spur  growth  impulses  in  the economy.

The  Union  Budget  2021-22  has  announced  a  number  of  growth supporting  measures which, inter-alia,  include  hike  in  custom  duty  to benefit Make  in India, critical  measures to boost infrastructure, innovation  and  R&D,  and  'Minimum  Government  and  Maximum Governance'.

Government has announced a special  economic and  comprehensive package of Rs. 27.1 lakh crores - equivalent to 13 per cent of India's

GDP- to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The package  includes,  among  others,  in-kind  and  cash  transfer  relief measures  for  households,  employment  provision  measures  under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan and increased allocation  under  MGNREGS,  credit  guarantee  and  equity  infusionbased  relief  measures  for  MSMEs  and  NBFCs  and  regulatory  and compliance  measures  related  to  tax-filing,  IBC  and  procurement. Structural reforms have also been announced as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package which, inter alia, include deregulation of the agricultural sector, change in definition of MSMEs, new PSU policy, commercialization  of  coal  mining,  higher  FDI  limits  in  defence  and space sector, development of Industrial Land/ Land Bank and Industrial Information  System,  revamp  of  Viability  Gap  Funding  Scheme  for social infrastructure, new power tariff policy and incentivizing States to undertake  sectoral  reforms.  The  implementation  of  the  package  is reviewed and monitored regularly.

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## ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 139 FOR ANSWER ON 10.02.2021. Table 1: Overall Growth rate of production of Eight Core Industries $ (in  %)

| Year      | Growth rates of Index of Eight Core Industries   | Growth rates of Index of Eight Core Industries   | Growth rates of Index of Eight Core Industries   |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
|           | H1                                               | H2                                               | Annual                                           |
| 2012-13   | 4.1                                              | 3.6                                              | 3.8                                              |
| 2013-14   | 3.0                                              | 2.1                                              | 2.6                                              |
| 2014-15   | 5.5                                              | 4.6                                              | 4.9                                              |
| 2015-16   | 2.1                                              | 3.8                                              | 3.0                                              |
| 2016-17   | 5.4                                              | 4.2                                              | 4.8                                              |
| 2017-18   | 3.2                                              | 5.3                                              | 4.3                                              |
| 2018-19   | 5.5                                              | 3.3                                              | 4.4                                              |
| 2019-20   | 1.3                                              | -0.3                                             | 0.4                                              |
| 2020-21 * | -14.3                                            | -1.2 #                                           |                                                  |

* Provisional                      # indicates quarterly growth rate (Oct-Dec 2020) $ Eight Core Industries includes Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Petroleum Refinery, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement & Electricity.

## Table 2: Production data of Eight Core Industries since June 2020

| Months/Years   |   Coal (in Million Tonnes) |   Crude Oil (in Thousand Tonnes) |   Natural Gas (in Million cubic meters) |   Petroleum Refinery Products $ (in Thousand Tonnes) |   Fertilizers (in Thousand Tonnes) |   Steel (in Thousand Tonnes) |   Cement (in Thousand Tonnes) |   Electricity Generation (in Million KWH) |
|----------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Weight (%)     |                    10.3335 |                           8.9833 |                                  6.8768 |                                              28.0376 |                             2.6276 |                      17.9166 |                         5.372 |                                    19.853 |
| Jun-2020       |                    48      |                        2527      |                               2250.3    |                                           18724.8    |                          3701.9    |                    7713      |                     26358     |                                114164     |
| Jul-2020       |                    46.1    |                        2633.6    |                               2369.5    |                                           19386.9    |                          3859.2    |                    8953      |                     24247     |                                121542     |
| Aug-2020       |                    45.1    |                        2577.5    |                               2363.5    |                                           17936.8    |                          3902.5    |                    9504      |                     20871     |                                118899     |
| Sep-2020       |                    48.5    |                        2486.5    |                               2227.7    |                                           18000.8    |                          3669.4    |                    9454      |                     24244     |                                121585     |
| Oct-2020*      |                    56.3    |                        2567.7    |                               2347.8    |                                           18876.5    |                          3968.4    |                    9807      |                     27030     |                                118516     |
| Nov-2020*      |                    63.4    |                        2486      |                               2263      |                                           21425.5    |                          3829.2    |                    9721      |                     25256     |                                105853     |
| Dec-2020*      |                    71.8    |                        2555.7    |                               2354.7    |                                           21480.3    |                          3779.7    |                   10140      |                     27492     |                                114370     |

* Provisional

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