The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent in May 2023 because of a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas and electricity.

The core sector growth was 19.3 per cent in May 2022 while in April 2023 the key infra sectors recorded a growth rate of 4.3 per cent. Coal production increased 7.2 per cent, petroleum refinery products by 2.8 per cent, fertiliser production by 9.7 per cent, steel 9.2 per cent and cement by 15.5 per cent, the data showed.

However, crude oil production declined 1.9 per cent, natural gas production 0.3 per cent, and electricity generation by 0.3 per cent in May 2023 over May 2022, according to the official data.

Aditi Nayar, chief economist, Icra said: “Cementoutput expanded by double digits for the second consecutive month, while steelproduction rose pointing to a robust performance of the construction sector.”

Fiscal deficit

Fiscal deficit stood at 11.8 per cent of the full-year budget estimates of Rs 17.87 lakh crore in May because of the higher-than-expected dividend by the Reserve Bank of India, according to official data.

The fiscal deficit was 12.3 per cent of 2022-23 BE (budget estimate) in the same period of the last year. In actual terms, the deficit was Rs 210,287 crore, according to data from the Controller General of Accounts.