About ICI 

• • The monthly Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) is a production volume index.
  • The objective of the ICI is to provide an advance indication on production performance of industries of ‘core’ nature before the release of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) by the Central Statistics Office. 
  • These industries are likely to impact on general economic activities as well as industrial activities. 
  • The Eight Core Industries- Electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilizers- comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP. 

• Industry Weight (In percentage)

• • Petroleum & Refinery production – 28.04 
  • Electricity generation – 19.85 
  • Steel production – 17.92 
  • Coal production – 10.33 
  • Crude Oil production – 8.98 
  • Natural Gas production – 6.88 
  • Cement production – 5.37 
  • Fertilizers production – 2.63
• ICI is released by the Office of Economic Advisor, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. The base year of the ICI is 2011-12.

Why in News?

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industries has released the latest Index of Eight Core Industries.
• The Index contracted for the eight consecutive month. The output of eight core sectors declined by 2.5 per cent in October, due to decline in production of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and steel.
• During April-October, the sectors’ output declined by 13 per cent as compared to a growth of 0.3 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/core-sector-contraction-widens-to-25/article33195916.ece