Context
Recently, India’s Index of Core Industries (ICI) recorded 5.4% year-on-year growth in July 2026, compared with the final 6% growth in June. The new ICI series uses 2022–23 as its base year and includes nine core industries.
Explanation
- The Index of Core Industries (ICI) is a monthly measure of production in industries supplying essential energy and materials to the economy.
- It is compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- The base year is now 2022–23 = 100, replacing 2011–12 — the reference point against which later production changes are measured.
- The basket now has nine industries: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity and iron ore.
- Iron ore is the new addition, for its wide industrial use in steel; the series also shifts to gross steel production and keeps only raw coal to avoid double counting.
- Sectoral weights come from the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), adjusted to total 100; electricity has the highest weight, then refinery products and steel. The IIP is compiled by the National Statistical Office (MoSPI).
- July’s 5.4% growth means weighted output was higher than in July 2025 — not inflation or a GDP contribution; iron ore, cement and electricity led, while natural gas, crude oil and fertilisers contracted.
- A provisional estimate may later be revised; the ICI is a key leading indicator of industrial activity.
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