According to Index of Eight Core Industries released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries has dropped to 10-month low of 3.6% in May 2018.
It is mainly due to decline in production of crude oil and natural gas.
This is the lowest growth rate since July 2017 when eight core infrastructure industries had expanded by 2.9%.
The growth rate recorded in April 2018 stood higher at 4.6%.
Core industries can be defined as main or key industries of the economy.
In India, there are eight core sectors comprising of coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.
The eight infrastructure sectors, constitute 40.27% of the total index of industrial production (IIP).