India's core industrial sector expanded by 7.9 per cent in September 2026, a rate not seen in the previous 30 months. ThePrint reported that the Commerce and Industry Ministry released these figures on Wednesday, highlighting a significant jump from the 3.1 per cent growth recorded in the same month last year. Business Standard noted that the surge was primarily driven by a sharp recovery in coal production, alongside higher iron ore output and robust refinery growth.
The Hindu BusinessLine provided a detailed breakdown of the nine tracked industries. Iron ore output led the pack with an 18.4 per cent increase, followed by electricity generation at 11.4 per cent and coal at 10.7 per cent. Refinery products also grew by 10.3 per cent. Cement and steel production rose by 9.8 and 4.9 per cent, respectively, compared with the previous year's figures. The Hindu described this September result as the strongest performance since the current data series started in April 2024.
Despite the overall positive trend, three sectors experienced contraction. Fertiliser output dropped by 11.7 per cent, continuing a downward trend that has persisted for seven straight months. Natural gas production fell by 4.6 per cent, while crude oil output declined by 1.4 per cent. ThePrint confirmed these negative figures, noting that the crude oil decline was less severe than the 3.6 per cent drop seen in August.
For the April-September 2026 period, cumulative core sector growth stood at 5.1 per cent, more than double the 2.5 per cent recorded in the same timeframe last year. The Hindu BusinessLine indicated that economists have differing views on the upcoming Index of Industrial Production data, scheduled for release on October 28. Madan Sabnavis of Bank of Baroda anticipated strong industrial growth, while Aditi Nayar of ICRA predicted a slight easing due to high baseline effects in non-core segments.