The growth of eight core sectors slowed down to 1 per cent in February mainly due to negative growth in crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and cement.
The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity was 9.4 per cent in February 2016.
The core sectors, which contribute 38 per cent to the total industrial production, expanded 4.4 per cent in April-February this fiscal compared to 3.5 per cent growth in the same period previous financial year, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday.
However, coal and steel recorded positive growth during the month.