The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 5.2 per cent (provisional) in March, 2024 as compared to the Index in March, 2023. The production of Cement, Coal, Electricity, Natural Gas, Steel and Crude Oil recorded positive growth in March 2024. The details of annual and monthly indices and growth rates are provided at Annex I and Annex II respectively.
The ICI measures the combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries viz. Cement, Coal, Crude Oil, Electricity, Fertilizers, Natural Gas, Refinery Products and Steel. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for December 2023 is revised to 5.0per cent. The cumulative growth rate of ICI during 2023-24 reported 7.5 per cent (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The summary of the Index of Eight Core Industries is given below:
Cement – Cement production (weight: 5.37 per cent) increased by 10.6 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 9.1 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Coal – Coal production (weight: 10.33 per cent) increased by 8.7 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 11.7 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Crude Oil – Crude Oil production (weight: 8.98 per cent) increased by 2.0 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 0.6 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Electricity – Electricity generation (weight: 19.85 per cent) increased by 8.0 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 7.0 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Fertilizers – Fertilizer production (weight: 2.63 per cent) declined by 1.3 per cent in March 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 3.7 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Natural Gas – Natural Gas production (weight: 6.88 per cent) increased by 6.3 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 6.1 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Petroleum Refinery Products – Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 28.04 per cent) declined by 0.3 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 3.4 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Steel – Steel production (weight: 17.92 per cent) increased by 5.5 per cent in March, 2024 over March, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 12.3 per cent during 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Note 1: Data for January, 2024, February, 2024 and March, 2024are provisional. Index numbers of Core Industries are revised/finalized as per updated data from source agencies.
Note 2: Since April 2014, Electricity generation data from Renewable sources are also included.
Note 3: The industry-wise weights indicated above are individual industry weights derived from IIP and blown up on pro rata basis to a combined weight of ICI equal to 100.
Note 4: Since March 2019, a new steel product called Hot Rolled Pickled and Oiled (HRPO) under the item ‘Cold Rolled (CR) coils’ within the production of finished steel has also been included.
Note 5: Release of the index for April, 2024 will be on Friday31st May, 2024.
Annex I
Yearly Index & Growth Rate
Base Year: 2011-12=100
Index
Sector | Coal | Crude Oil | Natural Gas | Refinery Products | Fertilizers | Steel | Cement | Electricity | Overall Index |
Weight | 10.33 | 8.98 | 6.88 | 28.04 | 2.63 | 17.92 | 5.37 | 19.85 | 100.00 |
2012-13 | 103.2 | 99.4 | 85.6 | 107.2 | 96.7 | 107.9 | 107.5 | 104.0 | 103.8 |
2013-14 | 104.2 | 99.2 | 74.5 | 108.6 | 98.1 | 115.8 | 111.5 | 110.3 | 106.5 |
2014-15 | 112.6 | 98.4 | 70.5 | 108.8 | 99.4 | 121.7 | 118.1 | 126.6 | 111.7 |
2015-16 | 118.0 | 97.0 | 67.2 | 114.1 | 106.4 | 120.2 | 123.5 | 133.8 | 115.1 |
2016-17 | 121.8 | 94.5 | 66.5 | 119.7 | 106.6 | 133.1 | 122.0 | 141.6 | 120.5 |
2017-18 | 124.9 | 93.7 | 68.4 | 125.2 | 106.6 | 140.5 | 129.7 | 149.2 | 125.7 |
2018-19 | 134.1 | 89.8 | 69.0 | 129.1 | 107.0 | 147.7 | 147.0 | 156.9 | 131.2 |
2019-20 | 133.6 | 84.5 | 65.1 | 129.4 | 109.8 | 152.6 | 145.7 | 158.4 | 131.6 |
2020-21 | 131.1 | 80.1 | 59.8 | 114.9 | 111.6 | 139.4 | 130.0 | 157.6 | 123.2 |
2021-22 | 142.3 | 77.9 | 71.3 | 125.1 | 112.4 | 163.0 | 156.9 | 170.1 | 136.1 |
2022-23 | 163.5 | 76.6 | 72.4 | 131.2 | 125.1 | 178.1 | 170.6 | 185.2 | 146.7 |
2023-24* | 182.6 | 77.1 | 76.8 | 135.6 | 129.8 | 200.0 | 186.2 | 198.2 | 157.7 |
*Provisional
Growth Rates (on Y-o-Y basis in per cent)
Sector | Coal | Crude Oil | Natural Gas | Refinery Products | Fertilizers | Steel | Cement | Electricity | Overall Growth |
Weight | 10.33 | 8.98 | 6.88 | 28.04 | 2.63 | 17.92 | 5.37 | 19.85 | 100.00 |
2012-13 | 3.2 | -0.6 | -14.4 | 7.2 | -3.3 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
2013-14 | 1.0 | -0.2 | -12.9 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 7.3 | 3.7 | 6.1 | 2.6 |
2014-15 | 8.0 | -0.9 | -5.3 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 14.8 | 4.9 |
2015-16 | 4.8 | -1.4 | -4.7 | 4.9 | 7.0 | -1.3 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 3.0 |
2016-17 | 3.2 | -2.5 | -1.0 | 4.9 | 0.2 | 10.7 | -1.2 | 5.8 | 4.8 |
2017-18 | 2.6 | -0.9 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 0.03 | 5.6 | 6.3 | 5.3 | 4.3 |
2018-19 | 7.4 | -4.1 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 5.1 | 13.3 | 5.2 | 4.4 |
2019-20 | -0.4 | -5.9 | -5.6 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 3.4 | -0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
2020-21 | -1.9 | -5.2 | -8.2 | -11.2 | 1.7 | -8.7 | -10.8 | -0.5 | -6.4 |
2021-22 | 8.5 | -2.6 | 19.2 | 8.9 | 0.7 | 16.9 | 20.8 | 8.0 | 10.4 |
2022-23 | 14.8 | -1.7 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 11.3 | 9.3 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 7.8 |
2023-24* | 11.7 | 0.6 | 6.1 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 12.3 | 9.1 | 7.0 | 7.5 |
*Provisional.
Y-o-Y is calculated over the corresponding financial year of previous year
Annex II
Monthly Index & Growth Rate
Base Year: 2011-12=100
Index
Sector | Coal | Crude Oil | Natural Gas | Refinery Products | Fertilizers | Steel | Cement | Electricity | Overall Index |
Weight | 10.33 | 8.98 | 6.88 | 28.04 | 2.63 | 17.92 | 5.37 | 19.85 | 100.00 |
Mar-23 | 235.5 | 77.3 | 74.6 | 144.7 | 118.1 | 204.4 | 198.4 | 188.0 | 164.7 |
Apr-23 | 161.2 | 75.0 | 68.9 | 132.7 | 118.7 | 191.2 | 192.0 | 192.3 | 151.2 |
May-23 | 167.6 | 78.8 | 73.2 | 141.1 | 138.2 | 192.5 | 191.8 | 201.6 | 157.4 |
Jun-23 | 162.4 | 76.4 | 73.4 | 136.2 | 130.8 | 191.9 | 195.0 | 205.2 | 155.9 |
Jul-23 | 152.6 | 78.9 | 79.0 | 134.4 | 131.8 | 191.7 | 166.1 | 204.0 | 153.2 |
Aug-23 | 150.3 | 78.4 | 80.3 | 135.4 | 133.3 | 198.4 | 182.0 | 220.5 | 158.6 |
Sep-23 | 147.9 | 74.9 | 76.8 | 126.8 | 132.3 | 198.4 | 166.2 | 205.9 | 151.7 |
Oct-23 | 172.6 | 78.4 | 80.3 | 128.8 | 136.4 | 201.4 | 181.5 | 203.8 | 156.4 |
Nov-23 | 185.7 | 75.5 | 77.2 | 134.5 | 133.5 | 192.6 | 156.5 | 176.3 | 150.4 |
Dec-23 | 204.3 | 77.4 | 79.5 | 145.0 | 137.5 | 206.7 | 191.9 | 181.6 | 161.2 |
Jan-24* | 218.9 | 78.8 | 79.3 | 135.8 | 135.0 | 216.8 | 195.1 | 197.1 | 165.3 |
Feb-24* | 212.1 | 73.5 | 74.5 | 132.5 | 113.3 | 202.2 | 196.5 | 187.1 | 157.7 |
Mar-24* | 256.0 | 78.9 | 79.3 | 144.3 | 116.6 | 215.7 | 219.4 | 203.0 | 173.3 |
*Provisional
Growth Rates (on Y-o-Y basis in per cent)
Sector | Coal | Crude Oil | Natural Gas | Refinery Products | Fertilizers | Steel | Cement | Electricity | Overall Growth |
Weight | 10.33 | 8.98 | 6.88 | 28.04 | 2.63 | 17.92 | 5.37 | 19.85 | 100.00 |
Mar-23 | 11.7 | -2.8 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 9.7 | 12.1 | -0.2 | -1.6 | 4.2 |
Apr-23 | 9.1 | -3.5 | -2.9 | -1.5 | 23.5 | 16.6 | 12.4 | -1.1 | 4.6 |
May-23 | 7.2 | -1.9 | -0.3 | 2.8 | 9.7 | 12.0 | 15.9 | 0.8 | 5.2 |
Jun-23 | 9.8 | -0.6 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 21.3 | 9.9 | 4.2 | 8.4 |
Jul-23 | 14.9 | 2.1 | 8.9 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 14.9 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 8.5 |
Aug-23 | 17.9 | 2.1 | 9.9 | 9.5 | 1.8 | 16.3 | 19.7 | 15.3 | 13.4 |
Sep-23 | 16.0 | -0.4 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 14.8 | 4.7 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
Oct-23 | 18.4 | 1.3 | 9.9 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 13.6 | 17.0 | 20.3 | 12.7 |
Nov-23 | 10.9 | -0.4 | 7.6 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 9.8 | -4.8 | 5.7 | 7.9 |
Dec-23 | 10.8 | -1.0 | 6.6 | 4.0 | 5.8 | 8.3 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 5.0 |
Jan-24 | 10.2 | 0.7 | 5.5 | -4.3 | -0.6 | 8.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 4.1 |
Feb-24 | 11.6 | 7.9 | 11.3 | 2.6 | -9.5 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 7.5 | 7.1 |
Mar-24 | 8.7 | 2.0 | 6.3 | -0.3 | -1.3 | 5.5 | 10.6 | 8.0 | 5.2 |
*Provisional.
Y-o-Y is calculated over the corresponding financial year of previous year
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into a record 125 Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) in FY 2023-24 with Indian taxpayers. This includes 86 Unilateral APAs (UAPAs) and 39 Bilateral APAs (BAPAs). This marks the highest ever APA signings in any financial year since the launch of the APA programme. The number of APAs signed in FY 2023-24 also represents a 31% increase compared to the 95 APAs signed during the preceding financial year. With this, the total number of APAs since inception of the APA programme has gone up to 641, comprising 506 UAPAs and 135 BAPAs.
During FY 2023-24 CBDT also signed the maximum number of BAPAs in any financial year till date. The BAPAs were signed as a consequence of entering into Mutual Agreements with India’s treaty partners namely Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the US.
The APA Scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and determining the arm’s length price of international transactions in advance for a maximum of five future years. Further, the taxpayer has the option to rollback the APA for four preceding years, as a result of which, tax certainty is provided for nine years. The signing of bilateral APAs additionally provides the taxpayers with protection from any anticipated or actual double taxation.
The APA programme has contributed significantly to the Government of India’s mission of promoting ease of doing business, especially for Multi National Enterprises () which have a large number of cross-border transactions within their group entities.
Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade established by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in collaboration with Centre for Justice, Law and Society (CJLS) at Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), recently organised the International Symposium on Health Governance in a Political Landscape: Interplay of Health Law, Society and Political Economy.
Dr. V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog delivered the inaugural address highlighting the importance of access to medicine and right to health and shared his experiences for policy implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Paul emphasised the need for inspiring leadership in policymaking, particularly health policy, by citing the example of India’s leadership as a vaccine supplier to the developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Paul also discussed how the deficiencies of India’s Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 were addressed by invoking the Disaster Management Act, 2005 for implementing the health-related emergency measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof. C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University & Dean, JGLS delivered opening remarks along with the welcome address by Prof. James J. Nedumpara, Head & Professor, CTIL and Prof. Dipika Jain, Professor, JGLS & Director, CJLS respectively.
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ravindra Bhat, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India chaired the plenary session 1 on the theme “Economic Policies, TRIPS and Healthcare: Building Bridges for Access”. Mr. Justice Bhat highlighted the importance of public interest as a ground for granting injunction in pharmaceutical patent disputes. Mr. Justice Bhat focussed on access to health and its intersection with the Intellectual property Right laws in broader parlance and interlinkages between health, trade, and access to medicines which balance economic and public rights. The panelists emphasised the need for innovative policy solutions and greater collaboration between governments, pharmaceutical companies, and international organizations to promote affordable access to medicines for all.
The second plenary session on the theme “Ink & Insight: Living the Scholarly Life Through Thought, Research & Publication” focused on the role of research and publication in shaping public health policy, particularly evidence-based policymaking. The panelists highlighted the influence of economic interests and conflicts of interest in health policy formulation and stressed on the importance of transparency in policymaking.
Dr. Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary of Kerala’s Local Self-Government and Women & Child Development Department, delivered a special address that emphasised local bodies’ crucial role in addressing healthcare challenges and utilizing development funds effectively. Subsequently, thematic sessions explored diverse aspects of health governance, including intellectual property rights (IPRs), medicine accessibility, research ethics, and technology’s impact on health outcomes.
The first day of symposium concluded with a special address by Prof. Chantal Thomas, Vice Dean and Radice Family Professor of Law, Cornell Law School, United States of America highlighted India’s significant role in healthcare, emphasising its moral leadership during Covid-19 and in bringing out the Doha 2001 declaration. She called for an analytical shift in legal and political discourse, advocating for dynamic trade models that consider gender and promoting participatory politics in international trade law.
The thematic sessions on Day 2 featured esteemed speakers and participants delving into critical health governance issues, particularly in TWAIL and Health Equity, abortion rights, reproductive justice, and TRIPS and regional integration in health. Both days’ thematic sessions saw discussions among eminent academicians such as Prof. (Dr.) B.S. Chimni, Distinguished Professor of International Law, JGU; Professor (Dr.) S. G. Sreejith, Professor & Executive Dean, Jindal Global Law School & Executive Director, Centre for International Legal Studies, JGU; Prof. James J. Nedumpara, Head & Professor, CTIL; Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, Public Health Doctor and Researcher, Bengaluru; Prof. Leila Choukroune, Professor of International Economic Law & Director of the University of Portsmouth Thematic Initiative in Democratic Citizenship; Prof. Shailja Singh, Associate Professor, CTIL; Prof. Shiny Pradeep, Assistant Professor, CTIL; and the participants.
The symposium ended with a special address by Dr. Anup Wadhawan, former Commerce Secretary, Government of India and a distinguished lecture by Prof. Lorand Bartels on “International Economic Law and Right to Health”. Dr. Anup Wadhawan emphasised the complexities of ensuring access to medicines, urging conscious policy choices like reforming the IPR regime for public health goals. Prof. Bartels emphasized that health is reiterated a fundamental human right within international law. He also cited the Chilean alcohol tax case to underscore challenges in policy implementation. Prof. Ashita Dawer, Associate Professor of Economics, Jindal Global Law School, JGU delivered the concluding remarks. This session was moderated by Ms. Ronjini Ray, Consultant (Legal) Assistant Professor, CTIL.
The Symposium offered scholars and early-stage academicians, both domestic and international, a platform to present their research articles to expert commentators. Following feedback from the commentators, scholars will refine their articles for publication in a Special Issue of Jindal Global Law Review. Prof. James J. Nedumpara, Head & Professor, CTIL delivered the concluding observations of the Symposium.