Economic Slowdown Alert: Core Sector Growth at 0%, PMI index at 6-Month low

During October 2025, the core sector growth in India hit a record 14-month low at 0%. Yes, there has been no growth at all in the 8 core industries of India during October, and regarded as one of the poorest performances of the Indian core industries in the last 14 months. 

Slowdown In Heavy Industries 

While there has been some resilience in certain segments, the slowdown has been witnessed across the majority of the heavy industries. This slowdown in the core sector output has been majorly driven by the steep fall in coal production, which dropped 8.5% during the month of October. It fell in September as well, but only by 1.2%. 

Electricity production also slowed down by 7.6% while during September, the same grew by 3.1%. Natural gas output declined 5% month-on-month (MoM) and crude oil production dipped by 1.2%, which is still at par with September’s 1.3% drop. 

Resilient Sectors 

While the core sectors’ growth declined, other sectors remained resilient and witnessed positive growth on a MoM basis. The refinery products manufacturing grew by 4.6%, while in September, it fell by 3.7%

Similarly, production of fertilizers increased during the month by 7.4%, which grew only by 1.6% in September. Steel production also jumped by 6.7% during October, however, at a slower pace than September’s 14.4% growth. Finally, cement production also grew by 5.3%, a bit higher than September’s 5% growth. 

Business Activity Slowdown 

The slowdown in the Indian core sectors has also affected the Flash HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index, which declined to 59.9 as of the data release. It is the first time in the past 6 months that the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped below the 60-mark. 

It is mainly driven by the slowdown in the manufacturing sector, and the PMI index for this sector slipped to a 9-month low of 57.4. The expansion in the services sector to 59.5 couldn’t stop the declining Composite PMI index. 

RBI’s GDP Outlook  

As the Indian economy slowed down during the month of October, RBI acknowledged the same, and it anticipates this third quarter to be challenging as well. It also reduced its GDP growth forecast and expects it to grow at 6.4% between October and December 2025. 

Source: MoneyControl , CNBC TV18

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