According to data released in September 2025, which sector recorded the HIGHEST year-on-year growth in India's Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for August 2025?

Explanation

The Press Information Bureau release for the August 2025 Index of Eight Core Industries shows the combined ICI rising by 6.3% over August 2024. Among the listed sectors, steel had the strongest annual increase: steel production rose by 14.2% in August 2025 over August 2024. This is higher than coal at 11.4%, cement at 6.1%, and electricity generation at 3.1%. Crude oil and natural gas moved in the opposite direction, declining by 1.2% and 2.2% respectively. Since the question asks for the highest year-on-year sectoral growth, the comparison is across the individual sector growth rates, not the overall ICI number; on that basis, steel is the clear answer.

Why the other options are wrong

• (A) Coal grew by 11.4% year-on-year in August 2025, which was strong but still below steel's 14.2% growth.
• (C) Cement recorded 6.1% year-on-year growth, far below the 14.2% increase reported for steel.
• (D) Electricity generation increased by only 3.1% year-on-year, so it did not lead the eight core industries in August 2025.

Concept

This tests the Index of Eight Core Industries, a recurring economy indicator because it tracks key industrial sectors feeding into the Index of Industrial Production. RAS often asks such questions as direct data-comparison items from official monthly releases.

Source

• Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce & Industry

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