ICI June 2026 Data Is Out — Core Industries Grow 5.0%, Iron Ore Surges 43.9%
India's first Index of Core Industries (ICI) release under the new 2022–23 base year is finally here. Beyond the headline 5.0% growth figure, the report also reveals which sectors are driving industrial activity and which continue to lag.
According to the release, India's core industries grew 5.0% year-on-year in June 2026, up from 3.2% in May. But the real story is in the sector breakdown — Iron Ore, now officially the ninth core industry, posted a jaw-dropping 43.9% growth, while three sectors — Natural Gas, Crude Oil, and Refinery Products — actually contracted compared to last year.
Here is a closer look at the methodology changes, sector-wise performance, and what the data means for businesses.
📋 New ICI Series — At a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| New Base Year | 2022-23 (replaces 2011-12) |
| First Release Under New Series | June 2026 (Provisional) |
| Number of Core Industries | 9 (up from 8) — Iron Ore newly added |
| ICI Growth — June 2026 (YoY) | 5.0% |
| ICI Growth — May 2026 (Final, YoY) | 3.2% |
| Cumulative Growth — April-June 2026 | 3.6% |
| Cumulative Growth — April-June 2025 | 1.0% |
| Linking Factor (Old series to New series) | 1.47 |
| Next Release (July 2026 data) | Thursday, 20 August 2026 |
| Back Series Available From | April 2023 onward, at eaindustry.nic.in |
📊 Sector-by-Sector — Who's Growing, Who's Shrinking
This is the table that actually matters for anyone tracking specific industries. Five sectors grew in June 2026, four contracted:
| Sector | June 2026 Index | YoY Growth | May 2026 Growth (for comparison) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🪨 Iron Ore | 148.1 | +43.9% | +19.0% |
| ⚡ Electricity | 130.5 | +9.8% | +11.2% |
| 🏗️ Cement | 138.2 | +9.8% | +8.4% |
| 🏭 Steel | 135.6 | +4.6% | +5.1% |
| ⛏️ Coal | 107.6 | +1.4% | −9.5% |
| 🧪 Fertilizers | 102.3 | −3.3% | −1.0% |
| ⚗️ Refinery Products | 100.7 | −4.7% | −8.2% |
| 🛢️ Crude Oil | 92.5 | −4.2% | −4.2% |
| 🔥 Natural Gas | 94.4 | −7.4% | −5.0% |
Look closely and a clear pattern emerges: the "physical construction and metals" cluster — Iron Ore, Electricity, Cement, Steel — is doing the heavy lifting for overall growth. The energy-extraction cluster — Natural Gas, Crude Oil, Refinery Products — is dragging the index down, with Natural Gas posting its worst reading among the nine sectors.
Coal is the interesting swing case here — it went from a steep −9.5% in May to a positive +1.4% in June, a genuine turnaround worth watching in the coming months to see if it holds.
🧾 Why the Numbers Look Different From Before — Methodology Recap
Since OEA had earlier announced the methodology changes, here's a quick summary of what has changed in the new series:
- Iron Ore added: Iron Ore is now tracked as a core industry in its own right, taking the count from eight to nine. This is because of the heavy use of Iron Ore in industrial production.
- Steel now uses gross production data: This replaces the earlier net production basis, aligning ICI with how the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) already measures steel.
- Coal narrowed to Raw Coal only: Coal Middlings and Washed Coal are excluded since both are derived from Raw Coal — counting all three separately was inflating the coal figure.
- Weights shifted from IIP 2022-23: The new ICI sector weights were adopted from the IIP 2022-23 series and distributed pro-rata to make a total of 100 to make the ICI consistent with the broader industrial output methodology of India.
🌍 Why This Matters Beyond the Headline Number
The Index of Core Industries has outsized weight in India’s economic story, because these nine sectors together account for a huge share of total industrial output. So when ICI accelerates, the broader Index of Industrial Production (IIP) tends to follow within weeks. But a jump from 3.2% to 5.0% growth, and a cumulative April-June growth of 3.6% versus just 1.0% a year ago, is a meaningfully stronger signal than a single month’s number might suggest on its own.
Iron Ore was the main contributor to the June increase. A 43.9% YoY jump is not a rounding effect – it is indicative of really intensive demand, likely associated with steel and construction activity picking up. Iron Ore and Electricity have been called out as the two “major drivers” of the overall ICI growth in the past few months and anyone following construction, infrastructure or metals-linked businesses should treat it as a leading indicator to keep an eye on.
Meanwhile, the persistent decline in Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Refinery Products – all three negative for several months in a row – indicates ongoing weakness in the energy part of the economy, even as the remainder of the core industries accelerate.
✅ What This Means for You — Practical Takeaways
- 🏗️ Construction and infrastructure businesses — If you're in construction, stronger Cement and Electricity growth suggests demand remains healthy.
- ⛏️ Mining and metals companies — Iron Ore is the star of this release, up 43.9%. For those in the iron ore and steel supply chain, this is a strong demand signal that should be acted on in terms of capacity and pricing decisions.
- ⚡ Power and energy analysts — Note the split: Electricity is growing strongly (+9.8%), while Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Refinery Products are all contracting. This divergence is worth digging into for sector-specific research.
- 📊 Economists and market analysts — If you wish to compare current growth with pre-rebase historical data, use the published linking factor (1.47) rather than assuming continuity across the base-year change.
- 🏭 Steel sector businesses — Remember the Steel Index now uses gross production data, not net. If you've been benchmarking your own output against ICI's Steel sub-index, recheck your comparison basis.
- 📰 Journalists and researchers — When citing ICI growth going forward, specify that figures are from the new 2022-23 base series, since headline percentages won't match what the old 2011-12 series would have shown for the same month.
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Disclaimer: All information in this post is sourced from the official PIB press release dated 20 July 2026 (Release ID: 2286615), Office of Economic Adviser, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. June 2026 figures are provisional estimates and subject to revision. Readers should refer to the official OEA data portal (eaindustry.nic.in) for the complete dataset. This post is for informational and awareness purposes only.