Pulled down by a poor show in crude oil and refining sectors, infrastructure growth in May 2005 slowed down to 5.6 per cent compared to 6.7 per cent in the same month a year ago.
A sharp recovery in coal and electricity generation, both of which recorded double digit growth, coupled with moderate growth in cement and finished steel production managed to keep overall growth of six core industries in positive territory.
Coal production grew by an impressive 11.2 per cent, while electricity generation increased by 10.5 per cent during May 2005 compared to 2.9 and 3.2 per cent in May 2004, according to the latest figures released by the government on Monday.
Petroleum refining production recorded a decline of 6.1 per cent while production of crude petroleum decreased by 1.9 per cent during the second month of current fiscal as against a growth of 13.8 per cent and 8.2 per cent in May 2004.
Cement production rose 3.1 per cent during the month from a negative growth of 1.4 per cent a year ago, while finished steel production decelerated to 5.1 per cent from a strong 13.5 per cent growth in May 2004.