Pulled down by deceleration in crude oil production, refined petroleum products, coal and electricity, India's infrastructure industry index reported a 0.6 per cent contraction in February this year as compared to a whopping 12.2 per cent growth a year ago.
Of the six key infrastructure industries, only cement and steel managed to remain in positive territory in February, according to the data released by the government on Tuesday.
Growth in infrastructure sector has been on the decline since November 2004. In November 2004, the infrastructure index posted 5 per cent growth and thereafter fell to 3.6 per cent in December and 1.9 per cent in January.
The pack-of-six posted a lower 4.6 per cent growth in April-February this fiscal when compared to 6.5 per cent growth in the corresponding period of 2003-04.
In February, crude oil production fell by 5 per cent while refined petroleum product output was down 3.5 per cent. Coal production was down 0.3 per cent and electricity generation was lower by 0.9 per cent in February when compared with February of 2004.