Mumbai : Growth in the country’s eight core industries picked up to 6.8 per cent in February 2012, against 6.4 per cent growth in February last year, on account of healthy growth in coal, electricity and cement production.

The infrastructure industries had grown by just 0.5 per cent in January 2012. Electricity output grew 8 per cent, coal output surged 17.8 per cent, and cement output rose 10.8 per cent in February 2012, according to the provisional data released on Thursday.

Electricity production had grown by 7.2 per cent, and cement by 6.5 per cent, while coal output had contracted 5.8 per cent in February last year. Crude oil production grew 0.4 per cent in February 2012, against 12.2 per cent in February last year.

Petroleum refinery products output rose 6.2 per cent, against 3.2 per cent. But natural gas output contracted 7.6 per cent. Fertiliser production grew 4.1 per cent in February this year, against 4.8 per cent, and steel production increased 4.3 per cent, against 18.5 per cent.

Between April 2011 and February 2012, growth in the core industries slowed to 4.4 per cent, from 5.8 per cent in the same quarter last year.