Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 23: The pace of growth in the Indian core sectors reportedly slowed to 0.5% in May 2026 claimed to be the second-lowest performance in 21 months, while the growth rate had previously stood at 1.8% in April 2026 and 1.2% in May 2025.
As per the reported data on the “Index of Eight Core Industries” released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) yesterday, “five out of eight core sectors contracted in May 2026.”
So far, the ‘crude oil sector’ is concerned, the MOCI data reportedly showed: “It contracted 4.6% in May, a worse performance than the contraction of 3.9% in April and of 1.8% in May last year.”
So far, the ‘natural gas sector’ is concerned, the MOCI data reportedly showed: “It contracted 4.9% in May 2026, its worst performance in three months.”
So far, the ‘refinery products sector’ is concerned, the MOCI data reportedly showed: “It contracted by 8.7% in May, its worst performance in 3.5 years.”
So far, the ‘coal sector’ is concerned, the MOCI data reportedly showed: “It contracted by 9.3% in May – the worst in 10 months.”
So far, the ‘fertilizer sector’ is concerned, the MOCI data reportedly showed: “It contracted for the third consecutive month in May 2026, by 0.9%.”
So far, the ‘steel sector’ is concerned, the MOCI data reportedly showed: “It saw growth slowing to a 13-month low of 5% in May 2026”.
However, the ‘electricity’ and ‘cement’ sectors reportedly registered growth in May 2026.
The MOCI data reportedly showed: “The ‘electricity sector’ saw growth accelerate to 8.7%, albeit on a low base since the sector had contracted by 4.7% in May last year, while the ‘cement sector’ quickened marginally to a growth of 8.4% from 8.2% in April 2026”.
