New Delhi: The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 3.7 per cent (year-on-year) in December 2025 as production of cement, steel, electricity, fertiliser and coal recorded positive growth last month, the government data showed on Tuesday.
The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for November 2025 was observed at 2.1 per cent.
The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to December, 2025-26 is 2.6 per cent (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Commerce Ministry data showed.
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According to the data, steel production increased by 6.9 per cent in December 2025 over December, 2024. Its cumulative index increased by 9.5 per cent during April to December, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.
The coal production increased by 3.6 per cent last month over December 2024 and its cumulative index declined by 0.7 per cent during April to December 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Moreover, fertiliser production increased by 4.1 per cent in December 2025 over December 2024, its cumulative index increased by 1.7 per cent during April to December 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.
The data further showed that cement production increased by 13.5 per cent in December 2025 over December 2024. Its cumulative index increased by 8.8 per cent during April to December, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Also, electricity generation was up by 5.3 per cent last month and its cumulative index increased by 0.3 per cent during April to December 2025-26.
Meanwhile, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered a record high growth of 6.7 per cent (quick estimate) in November, compared to 5 per cent in the same month last year. The manufacturing sector grew strongly on a year-on-year basis by 8 per cent in November.
This acceleration is attributed to the fact that 20 out of 23 industry groups at the “NIC 2-digit-level” have recorded a positive growth in November 2025 over November 2024 in the manufacturing sector.
