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Economic Review May 20254www.projectstoday.comIIPIn March 2025, India%u2019s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) recorded a year-on-year growth of 3.0 percent, showing a slight increase from the 2.9 percent growth estimated for February 2025. Among the core sectors, Mining expanded marginally by 0.4 percent, Manufacturing rose by 3.0 percent, and Electricity posted a robust growth of 6.3 percent during the same period.The overall IIP index value reached 164.8 in March 2025, compared to 160.0 in March 2024. Sector-wise, the indices stood at 156.8 for Mining, 160.9 for Manufacturing, and 217.1 for Electricity.Within the Manufacturing sector, 13 out of 23 industry groups at the NIC two-digit classification level registered positive growth in March 2025 when compared to the same month last year. The most significant contributors to the sector%u2019s performance included the %u201cManufacture of basic metals,%u201d which grew by 6.9 percent, %u201cManufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers,%u201d which increased by 10.3 percent, and %u201cManufacture of electrical equipment,%u201d which showed the highest growth at 15.7 percent.From a use-based classification perspective, the index values for March 2025 were as follows: Primary Goods %u2013 168.2, Capital Goods %u2013 134.8, Intermediate Goods %u2013 173.1, and Infrastructure/Construction Goods %u2013 212.3. For consumer categories, the indices were 138.5 for Consumer Durables and 147.9 for Consumer Non-durables.In terms of annual growth over March 2024, Primary Goods rose by 3.1 percent, Capital Goods by 2.4 percent, Intermediate Goods by 2.3 percent, and Infrastructure/Construction Goods witnessed a significant increase of 8.8 percent. Consumer Durables grew by 6.6 percent, while Consumer Non-durables experienced a contraction of 4.7 percent. Under this classification, the three most significant positive contributors to the IIP growth in March 2025 were Infrastructure/Construction Goods, Primary Goods, and Consumer Durables.EIGHT INFRA INDUSTRIES The Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) registered a provisional growth of 3.8 percent in March 2025, as compared to the same month in 2024. This growth was supported by increased production in six key sectors: Cement, Fertilisers, Steel, Electricity, Coal, and Refinery Products. However, output declined in the Crude Oil and Natural Gas sectors during the same period.The ICI tracks the performance of eight fundamental industries - Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilisers, Steel, Cement, and Electricity - which together account for 40.27 percent of the weight in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP).Sector-Wise PerformanceCoal output grew by 1.6 percent year-on-year in March 2025. For the full financial year 2024%u201325 (April to March), coal production rose by 5.1 percent compared to the same period in the previous year.Crude Oil production fell by 1.9 percent in March 2025 on a year-on-year basis. The cumulative index for the fiscal year showed a 2.2 percent decline.Natural Gas witnessed the steepest decline in gas output, which contracted by 12.7 percent in March 2025. Over the fiscal year, the decline stood at 1.2 percent.Refinery Products recorded a marginal increase of 0.2 in