March IIP growth seen at around 15%: Commerce Secy

Combined production at India's factories, power utilities and mines is expected to grow by 15% in March, Commerce & Industry Secretary R.P. Singh said. In February, the industrial output had grown by an annual rate of 15.1%. After a blip in February, growth in India's six key infrastructure industries rebounded in March due to strong expansion across the board, data released by the Government showed earlier this week. However, performance of the Petroleum Refinery sub-segment left a lot to be desired. The index of six infrastructure industries stood at 290.6 as against 252.9 in February. The core sector index stood at 271.2 in March 2009 and had registered a growth of 3.3% over the same month of the preceding year. The infrastructure sector index comprises Crude Oil, Petroleum Refining, Coal, Electricity, Finished Steel and Cement, and has a 27% weightage in the IIP.