Index of Core Industries Growth Rises 5% in June 2026 Under Revised 2022-23 Base Year Series

India’s Index of Core Industries (ICI) witnessed a 5% growth year-on-year in June 2026 as per the provisional estimates released by the Office of Economic Advisor (OEA) under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). In addition to this latest numbers, the government has also announced a new ICI series using 2022-23 as the base year in place of base year 2011-12. The new series is based on the several methodological improvements, specially in incorporating Iron Ore as part of the core industries.

What is the Index of Core Industries (ICI)?

The Index of Core Industries (ICI) is a monthly survey that measures the production performance of the major Indian industries.

These industries are regarded as the backbone of the economy since they provide essential inputs for manufacturing, infrastructure, construction, and other economic activities.

The ICI also acts as an indicator for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and the industrial growth of the economy.

With the revision series now in place, the total number of core industries has increased from eight to nine.

Government Revises the Base Year for ICI

The Office of the Economic Adviser has decided to revise the base year of ICI from 2011-12 to 2022-23 to reflect better the present structure of India’s industrial economy.

The base year is changed, which is important in the reflection of changes in production processes, development of technologies and importance of different industries at different times.

The series is available retrospectively from April 2023, which will help the analysts to evaluate the previous trends with the updated methodology.

The Revised Index of Core Industries: Key Adjustments

There are numerous key methodological refinements within the new ICI series.

Inclusion of Iron Ore in the List of Core Industries

• Inclusion of Iron Ore as the new ninth core industry is a significant revision.
• The Government mentions that inclusion of Iron Ore is based on its wide application in industrial production as well as its growing significance for the economy of India.

Change in Steel Index Methodology

• In the new methodology, the Steel Index is calculated using gross production data, which means that its methodology is now consistent with the updated Index of Industrial Production.
• Before the change, net production data was used.

Change in Coal Categories

• The Coal category has also gone through modifications.
• At this point only Raw Coal is included in the coal category because the coal-middling and washed coal are excluded in order to avoid double counting, as both are derived from raw coal.

Updated Industry Weights

• Weights of various core industries now correspond with the new IIP (2022-23) weights and have been rationally altered to reach the total of 100.

Introduction of Linking Factor

• The Economic Adviser’s Office has established a linking factor of 1.47 between two datasets.

June 2026: The Change in Core Industries Increased by 5%

The provisional data shows an increase of 5% in the Index of Core Industries on a year-to-year basis in June 2026. The increase is high compared to that of May 2026 during which the economy grew at 3.2%

The performance is better because production increased in key sectors such as Electricity, Iron Ore, Cement, Coal, and Steel.

The increase in growth in Core Industries signifies the strength of India’s industrial sector despite the challenges which some of the sectors face.

Sector-wise performance in June 2026

Best performers among the sectors

Iron Ore is known to be the leading industry in terms of growth for June as the industry achieved a remarkable growth rate of 43.9% annually.
Some other significant contributors are as follows:

• Electricity: 9.8%
• Cement: 9.8%
• Steel: 4.6%
• Coal: 1.4%

It was noted by the government that Iron Ore and Electricity are the biggest contributors to the growth of the core sector.

Sectors showing negative growth

Four sectors showed contraction in performance on YoY basis in June,

• Natural Gas
• Crude Oil
• Refinery Products
• Fertilizers

The loss made in these sectors has partially compensated for the remarkable growth witnessed by the other sectors.

Increased Expansion in the First Quarter

The aggregate rise in the Index of Core Industries for the April-June 2026 period is 3.6%, as calculated against the 1% during the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

This improvement indicates strong momentum in industry during the first quarter of this fiscal year, pointing to increasing activity in many industries connected with infrastructure.