Government to Unveil Revamped Core Industries Index on July 20 with Iron Ore as Ninth Sector

The government will release a revised series of the Index of Core Industries with a new base year of 2022-23 on July 20, marking the first overhaul of the index in more than a decade.

The revised series, released by the Office of the Economic Adviser under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, will replace the existing 2011-12 base-year series.

Alongside the provisional reading for June 2026, the government will also publish a back series covering the period from April 2023 to May 2026.

Why Iron Ore Has Been Added as the Ninth Core Sector

A key structural change in the revised index is the inclusion of iron ore, taking the number of sectors covered from eight to nine. The government said the move reflects iron ore’s extensive use in industrial production and its growing contribution to the economy.

The eight existing sectors in the index are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity.

How the New Basket Weights Have Been Calculated

The weights of the revised basket have been derived from the new 2022-23 base year Index of Industrial Production released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The weights have been redistributed on a pro rata basis so that the basket’s total weight adds up to 100.

The methodology has also been aligned more closely with the revised IIP, improving comparability between the two indices.

What Changed in the Coal Sector?

Another methodological revision affects the coal sector. The revised index will include only raw coal going forward.

What the Index of Core Industries Measures

The Index of Core Industries tracks the performance of the country’s core infrastructure industries, whose output serves as a leading indicator for industrial production. The revised series is expected to improve comparability with the new IIP base year and better reflect the evolving structure of India’s industrial economy.

Final Outlook

The shift to a 2022-23 base year brings the Core Industries Index in line with updated IIP methodology and adds iron ore as a sector that better represents current industrial activity. The back series from April 2023 will allow for consistent trend analysis once the new numbers are published on July 20.

Source: Moneycontrol