NEW DELHI, October 3 — The Office of the Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on Saturday released the official production indices for Eight Core Industries for August 2026, recording a resilient year-on-year growth rate of 6.2 percent.
According to the official statistical bulletin, the expansion was anchored by double-digit momentum in Cement production (11.4 percent) and robust demand in Electricity generation (8.9 percent), alongside sustained gains in Finished Steel (7.8 percent) and Petroleum Refinery Products (5.2 percent). Coal output expanded by 4.8 percent to support thermal power plant stockpiles, while Fertilizer production grew by 3.6 percent in preparation for the upcoming rabi sowing season. Marginal contractions were observed in Crude Oil (-1.2 percent) and Natural Gas (-0.8 percent) outputs.
Economic analysts noted that the Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Sustained traction across core industrial segments underscores buoyant capital formation and active civil construction cycles under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).
The structural weighting of the Eight Core Industries (Refinery Products at 28.04%, Electricity at 19.85%, Steel at 17.92%, Coal at 10.33%, Crude Oil at 8.98%, Natural Gas at 6.88%, Cement at 5.37%, and Fertilizers at 2.63%), the Base Year 2011-12 series, and correlation with quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth are foundational concepts across UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Indian Economy) and RBI Grade B examinations.