Coal Sector Achieves Highest Growth Among Eight Core Industries in December 2024

The coal sector has shown the highest growth of 5.3% (provisional), reaching 215.1 points in December 2024, compared to 204.3 points in December 2023, among the eight core industries as per the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) (Base Year 2011-12), released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. During the period of April to December 2024, the coal industry’s index rose to 177.6 points, up from 167.2 points during the same period last year, marking a robust growth of 6.2%, the highest among all eight core industries.

The ICI measures the combined and individual performance of production across eight core industries: cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilizers, natural gas, refinery products, and steel.

The Combined Index of Eight Core Industries showed 4.0% growth in December 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year. The index for the period April to December 2024 increased by 4.2% compared to the same period of FY 2023-24, emphasizing the coal sector’s substantial contribution to overall industrial expansion.

This remarkable growth is largely attributed to a significant increase in coal production during April-December 2024, which reached an impressive 726.31 million tonnes (MT), up from 684.47 MT during the same period of last year. This surge underscores the sector’s ability to meet the growing demand from the energy and manufacturing industries.