The index of six infrastructure industries in January registered a year-on-year growth rate of 8.74 per cent, as against 8.2 per cent in the same month last year, due to increased output of crude petroleum, petroleum refinery products, coal and electricity.
In the April to January period of 2006-07, infrastructure output increased by 8.4 per cent, against 5.8 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
However, the cement and finished steel sectors slowed down during January 2007, compared to the growth figures of the same month of the previous year.
Production in cement, a sector which has been facing supply side constraints, registered a year-on-year growth of 6.8 per cent at 14.5 million tonnes in January, 2007, against a healthy 15.4 per cent growth in the same month last year.
The sector had been identified as one of the major contributor to the rising inflation rate as demand outpaced supply due to the robust growth in infrastructure and real estate projects.
The cement industry has assured the government that it would hold on to the current levels of prices for the next one year and would invest Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) over the next five-to-seven years to increase capacity by 100 million metric tonnes.
Growth in cement production in the April to January period of the current financial year also slowed down to 9.5 per cent at 131.878 million tonnes, against a growth of 11.4 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The output of finished steel also slowed down in January, 2007 and registered a year on year growth of 10.4 per cent at 4.434 million tonnes, compared to 14.3 per cent growth in the corresponding month of 2006.
Petroleum production in the country increased by 4.7 per cent at 2.901 million tonnes during during January this year, against a negative growth of 4.9 per cent in the month last year.
Refineries' output also increased by 9 per cent at 11.839 million tonnes in January this year, as against 5.5 per cent in the corresponding month last year.
Coal production during January 2007 stood at 42.15 million tonnes -- growth of 10 per cent -- compared to an 8.2 per cent growth in January, 2006. Power production in January, 2007 stood at 58, 320.6 MW, which is a growth of 8.5 per cent, as against 6.4 per cent in the corresponding month of the previous year.