New Delhi Mar 31 PTI The production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 58 per cent in February the sharpest growth in the last four months on better output of coal natural gas refinery products and cement industries according to official data released on Thursday The production of the core sectors had declined by 33 per cent in February last year while it had grown by 4 per cent in January 2022 In February the production of coal rose by 66 per cent natural gas by 125 per cent refinery products by 88 per cent and cement by 5 per cent On the other hand production of crude oil and fertiliser declined The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors -- coal crude oil natural gas refinery products fertilisers steel cement and electricity -- stood at 11 per cent during the April-February period of the current fiscal as against a negative growth rate of 81 per cent during the same period last financial year Core sectors hold a 4027 per cent weightage in the Index of Industrial Production IIP Rating agency ICRAs Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said the IIP growth is expected to print at sub-25 per cent in February lagging the core sector rise PTI RR MR

New Delhi Feb 18 PTI India and the UAE on Friday signed a free trade agreement FTA to give a fillip to bilateral trade and economic ties The agreementdubbed as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement CEPAwas signed and exchanged by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri The trade agreement was signed during a virtual summit held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Briefing media after the signing of the pact Goyal said thisis a comprehensive and balanced trade agreement It opens up huge business opportunities for both sides The agreement will help in doubling our bilateral trade Goyal said An official release stated that the agreement will provide significant benefits to Indian and UAE businesses including enhanced market access and reduced tariffs It is expected that the CEPA will lead to increase in bilateral trade from the current USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion in the next five years In September last year India and the United Arab Emirates UAE formally launched negotiations for the trade agreement The pact covers areas including goods services rules of origin customs procedures government procurement intellectual property rights and e-commerce Under such agreements two trading partners reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them Besides they also liberalise norms to enhance trade in services and boost investments Bilateral trade between India and the UAE stood at USD 433 billion in 2020-21 Exports were worth USD 167 billion and imports aggregated at USD 267 billion in 2020-21 The two-way commerce stood at USD 5911 billion in 2019-20 The UAE is a gateway to Africa and other parts of the world PTI RR MR MR MR

New Delhi Jan 31 PTI Production of eight core sectors rose by 38 per cent in December 2021 as against a contraction of 04 per cent in the same month last year according to the official data released on Monday Barring crude oil and steel all sectors recorded positive growth in December 2021 The sectors had expanded by 34 per cent in November 2021 The growth rate of the eight infrastructure sectors -- coal crude oil natural gas refinery products fertilisers steel cement and electricity -- stood at 126 per cent during April-December this fiscal as against a negative growth of 98 per cent during the same period last fiscal PTI RR MR MR

New Delhi Nov 30 PTI The production of eight infrastructure sectors rose by 75 per cent in October on healthy performance by the segments of coal natural gas refinery products and cement official data released on Tuesday showed The output of eight core sectors of coal crude oil natural gas refinery products fertilisers steel cement and electricity had contracted by 05 per cent in October 2020 according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry Core sectors growth stood at 45 per cent in September this year The eight core industries comprise 4027 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production IIP During April-October this fiscal the sectors output rose by 151 per cent against a contraction of 126 per cent in the same period of the previous year Output of coal rose by 146 per cent natural gas by 258 per cent refinery products by 144 per cent and cement by 145 per cent in October Crude oil production dipped by 22 per cent during the month under review Growth rate of the fertiliser steel and electricity production slowed down to 004 per cent 09 per cent and 28 per cent respectively during the month under review Commenting on the numbers ICRA Ltd Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said that the acceleration of eight core sector growth in October was driven by petroleum refinery products reflecting rising mobility ramping up of coal output given the tight supply situation that was prevailing in various power plants as well as cement and electricity With a mixed trend displayed by most early indicators that are available for November 2021 we expect the core sector growth to slip to under 5 per cent for this month she said adding while the core sector growth has accelerated and the festive season trends were broadly positive the 22 per cent contraction in auto output is likely to push the October 2021 IIP growth to below 25 per cent PTI RR MR MR

New Delhi Nov 30 PTI The output of eight core sectors rose by 75 per cent in October on healthy performance by coal natural gas refinery products and cement segments official data released on Tuesday showed The production of eight infrastructure sectors of coal crude oil natural gas refinery products fertilisers steel cement and electricity had contracted by 05 per cent in October 2020 according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry Core sectors growth stood at 45 per cent in September this year The eight core industries comprise 4027 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production IIP During April-October this fiscal the sectors output rose by 151 per cent as compared to a contraction of 126 per cent in the same period of the previous year PTI RR MR MR

New Delhi Nov 25 PTI The Empowered Committee of North East Industrial Development Scheme has granted registration to 105 new units in the north-east region the commerce and industry ministry said on Thursday Till date a total of 391 new industrial units with a proposed total investment of Rs 263119 crore have been granted registration under NEIDS 2017 it said With this all applications recommended for registration by the concerned state governments up to October 31 2021 have been considered by the committee The total incentives envisaged by these 391 industrial units amounts to Rs 174006 crore with projected employment generation of 15987 it said To promote industrialization in north east states and to boost employment and income generation the government notified the scheme on April 12 2018 PTI RR MR MR

New Delhi Aug 31 PTI The production of eight core industries rose by 94 per cent in July against a 76 per cent decline in the year-ago month official data released on Tuesday showed The production of coal natural gas refinery products fertilizers steel cement and electricity industries increased in July 2021 over the corresponding period of last year according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data Crude oil production however dropped by 32 per cent Core sectors had recorded a 76 per cent decline in output in July 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions The infrastructure sectors had expanded by 93 per cent in June 2021 For April-July 2021-22 the sectors grew by 212 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last financial year PTI RR MR MR