Core sectors grew at a five-month high of 5% in June 2026 as per new and improved index

Growth in activity in India’s core industrial sectors accelerated to 5% in June 2026, the fastest in five months, as per the inaugural release of the new and updated series of the c (ICI).

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday (July 20, 2026) released the new series of the ICI, with an updated base year of 2022-23 as compared to the earlier 2011-12. Further, the updated index has an additional sector of iron ore added to it, taking the total number of sectors it covers to nine. The sectoral weights and methods of estimation have also been updated.

“The Index of Core Industries grew by 5% in June 2026 (provisional estimate) on a year-on-year basis, compared with June 2025,” the Office of Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said. “This marks an improvement over the growth rate of 3.2% recorded in May 2026 (final estimate).”

The index last grew faster in January 2026 when it hit a growth of 5.2%, as per the new series. 

Within the index, the fastest growth was recorded by the new entrant — iron ore — which grew 43.9% in June 2026 as compared to 19% in May. This growth, however, was likely due to a statistical base effect, since the sector contracted 16.4% in June last year.

“Owing to intensive use of iron ore in the production process, and its contribution to industrial development, it has been included in the list of core industries as a new item in the revised series of ICI (base year 2022-23),” the Ministry said in a statement. 

Nearly all the sectors relating to hydrocarbon energy and its products, such as crude oil (-4.2%), natural gas (-7.4%), refinery products (-4.7%), and fertilisers (-3.3%) contracted in June 2026. 

“The entire crude oil related sectors — crude oil, gas, refinery products and fertilizers — witnessed negative growth in June which can be attributed to higher imports with global crude prices cooling off,” Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at the Bank of Baroda said. “The export of refinery products had slowed down this month. In case of fertilizers, imports tended to increase.”

The only energy sector to have witnessed growth was the coal sector, which grew 1.4% in June 2025, snapping a three-month streak of contraction. 

The steel sector grew 4.6% and the cement sector hit 9.8% in June 2025, which Mr. Sabnavis said was a result of spending by both the government and the private sector.

Electricity generation grew by 9.8% in June 2026, building on a growth of 11.2% in May, with experts attributing this to the heat wave in some parts of the country, as well as higher demand from industry.