On 20 August 2026, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry released the provisional Index of Core Industries (ICI) for July 2026, along with the final index for June 2026, on the 2022-23 base year. Headline: the index grew 5.4 per cent year-on-year in July, against 6.0 per cent in June. Cumulative growth for April–July 2026 was 4.3 per cent, up sharply from 1.5 per cent in the same months of the previous year.
Monthly data releases look like the least memorable kind of current affairs. They are in fact among the most reliable, because the structure behind them — which industries, what weights, which base year, how it relates to the IIP — does not change month to month, and that structure is what questions are built on.
What the index is, and why eight
The Index of Core Industries measures the combined output of eight industries treated as the foundation of the rest of industrial activity. The logic is upstream dependency: nearly every manufactured good in the economy needs electricity to make, steel or cement to build the plant, and refinery products to move. When these eight move, the rest follows with a lag.
The eight, with their weights in the 2022-23 series — this is the single most examinable table in the topic:
| Core industry | Weight (%) |
|---|---|
| Electricity | 30.932 |
| Refinery Products | 22.572 |
| Steel | 17.584 |
| Crude Oil | 7.430 |
| Coal | 5.596 |
| Iron Ore | 4.905 |
| Cement | 4.410 |
| Natural Gas | 3.841 |
| Fertilisers | 2.731 |
| Total | 100.00 |
You will have noticed the arithmetic problem immediately: that is nine rows for an index called the eight core industries. This is the detail that separates a candidate who has read the release from one who has memorised a coaching handout. Iron ore was added when the series was revised to the 2022-23 base, and the composition now carries nine items while the older name persists in common usage. If a question asks for "the eight core industries," the classical list is coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — with iron ore the new entrant under the revised base. Knowing both the classical list and the revision is the complete answer.
Order of weights, worth memorising as a sequence: electricity → refinery products → steel → crude oil → coal → iron ore → cement → natural gas → fertilisers. The top three alone are 71 per cent of the index, so ICI is in practice a story about power, petroleum refining and steel.
What July 2026 actually says
The gainers:
| Industry | July 2026 y-o-y growth |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore | +29.5% |
| Cement | +13.1% |
| Electricity | +9.0% |
| Coal | +7.6% |
| Steel | +2.9% |
| Refinery Products | +2.7% |
The decliners: natural gas, crude oil and fertilisers all contracted.
The release names iron ore, electricity and cement as the drivers of recent months, and the pattern tells a coherent story if you read it as a construction-and-power cycle. Cement at 13.1 per cent and iron ore at 29.5 per cent are both construction-linked: cement goes into the structure, iron ore into the steel that reinforces it. Electricity at 9 per cent is consistent with a hot, industrially active summer. Steel at only 2.9 per cent against iron ore at 29.5 per cent is the interesting divergence — ore is being produced far faster than finished steel, which points to inventory building, export of ore, or capacity constraints downstream.
Crude oil and natural gas contracting is a structural feature rather than a monthly surprise: India's domestic hydrocarbon output has been on a long declining trend from ageing fields, which is precisely why import dependence in crude stays above 85 per cent. Fertilisers contracting matters for a different reason — it is monsoon-sensitive, tied to sowing, and feeds directly into the subsidy bill.
Also note the revision. June 2026 was revised from a provisional 119.6 to a final 120.7, moving reported growth from 5.0 to 6.0 per cent. This is not an error; it is how the system is designed. Provisional estimates are released on the 20th of the following month, then revised as fuller returns arrive. A candidate who understands that a first print is a first draft will not be caught by a question contrasting provisional and final figures. The August 2026 index is scheduled for release on Monday, 21 September 2026.
The relationship a question will test: ICI and IIP
These two indices are constantly confused, and the distinction is simple once stated.
| Index of Core Industries (ICI) | Index of Industrial Production (IIP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Eight core industries | Mining, manufacturing, electricity — the whole industrial sector |
| Released by | Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry | National Statistical Office (NSO), MoSPI |
| Weight relationship | The eight core industries are about 40 per cent of the IIP | — |
| Timing | Released around the 20th of the following month | Released around the 28th |
Because ICI is released first and covers 40 per cent of IIP's weight, it functions as a lead indicator — analysts read it to anticipate the IIP print. That is the whole reason a monthly release of eight industries gets front-page treatment.
And the base year. The shift to 2022-23 replaced the earlier 2011-12 base. Base-year revisions are undertaken periodically so the index reflects the current structure of the economy — an index weighted to a twelve-year-old production pattern gradually stops measuring the economy that exists. The same logic drives base revisions in the WPI, the CPI and the GDP series, and the "why revise a base year" question is asked in exactly that generic form. The wider machinery of price and output indices sits with the study of inflation and price indices and of national income accounting.
Reading it honestly
Two cautions belong in a good answer.
Growth is measured year-on-year, so the base matters. ICI cumulative growth of 4.3 per cent in April–July 2026 against 1.5 per cent a year earlier looks like a near-tripling of momentum. Part of it is genuine; part is that the previous year's comparison period was weak. This is the base effect, and naming it is the mark of a careful reader.
And an index of volumes is not an index of value. ICI measures physical output — tonnes, kilowatt-hours, barrels. It says nothing about whether those tonnes were sold profitably. A sector can post strong ICI growth while its firms are under margin pressure.
🔑 Revision block
The release. 20 August 2026 — Ministry of Commerce & Industry, provisional ICI for July 2026 and final index for June 2026, base year 2022-23.
The headline. ICI +5.4% y-o-y in July 2026, against +6.0% in June 2026 (final). Cumulative April–July 2026: +4.3%, against +1.5% a year earlier.
Weights, in order — the key table. Electricity 30.932 · Refinery Products 22.572 · Steel 17.584 · Crude Oil 7.430 · Coal 5.596 · Iron Ore 4.905 · Cement 4.410 · Natural Gas 3.841 · Fertilisers 2.731. Top three = about 71% of the index.
The nine-versus-eight trap. The classical eight are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity. Iron ore was added with the 2022-23 base revision, so the current composition lists nine while the name says eight.
July gainers. Iron ore +29.5% · Cement +13.1% · Electricity +9.0% · Coal +7.6% · Steel +2.9% · Refinery products +2.7%.
July decliners. Natural gas, crude oil, fertilisers — all negative. Crude and gas declines are structural (ageing fields, import dependence above 85%); fertiliser output is monsoon- and sowing-sensitive.
The divergence to notice. Iron ore +29.5% but steel only +2.9% — ore rising far faster than finished steel.
The revision. June 2026 revised from 119.6 (provisional) to 120.7 (final), growth from 5.0% to 6.0%. Provisional prints are first drafts. August 2026 index due 21 September 2026; the release schedule is the 20th of the following month.
ICI versus IIP. ICI = eight core industries, released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce & Industry), around the 20th. IIP = mining, manufacturing, electricity, released by the NSO under MoSPI, around the 28th. The core industries are about 40% of IIP weight, making ICI a lead indicator.
Base year. 2022-23, replacing 2011-12 — revised so the weights reflect the economy's current structure. Same logic as base revisions in WPI, CPI and GDP.
Two cautions. Base effect — a low previous-year comparison inflates the growth rate. Volume, not value — ICI counts physical output, not profitability.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. Which industry carries the highest weight in the Index of Core Industries? (a) Electricity (b) Refinery products (c) Steel (d) Coal → (a) — 30.932 per cent in the 2022-23 series.
Q2. The Index of Core Industries for July 2026 grew by: (a) 5.4% (b) 6.0% (c) 4.3% (d) 1.5% → (a) — against 6.0% in June 2026 (final).
Q3. Which of these recorded the highest growth in July 2026? (a) Iron ore (b) Cement (c) Electricity (d) Steel → (a) — 29.5 per cent.
Q4. Which three sectors recorded negative growth in July 2026? (a) Natural gas, crude oil, fertilisers (b) Coal, steel, cement (c) Electricity, coal, steel (d) Refinery products, cement, iron ore → (a).
Q5. The eight core industries account for approximately what share of the IIP's weight? (a) 40% (b) 25% (c) 60% (d) 78% → (a) — which is why ICI is read as a lead indicator.
Q6. The Index of Industrial Production is released by: (a) National Statistical Office, MoSPI (b) Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT (c) RBI (d) NITI Aayog → (a) — the ICI comes from the Office of the Economic Adviser.
Q7. The current base year of the Index of Core Industries is: (a) 2022-23 (b) 2011-12 (c) 2004-05 (d) 2017-18 → (a).
Q8. Which industry was newly included when the ICI base was revised to 2022-23? (a) Iron ore (b) Cement (c) Fertilisers (d) Natural gas → (a).
Q9. Provisional ICI figures for a reference month are released on: (a) the 20th of the following month (b) the 1st of the following month (c) the 28th of the following month (d) the last working day of the same month → (a).
Q10. June 2026's index was revised from 119.6 to 120.7, changing growth from: (a) 5.0% to 6.0% (b) 6.0% to 5.0% (c) 4.3% to 5.4% (d) 1.5% to 4.3% → (a).
Q11. The IIP covers which three broad sectors? (a) Mining, manufacturing and electricity (b) Agriculture, industry and services (c) Coal, steel and cement (d) Primary, secondary and tertiary → (a).
Q12. A high growth rate produced partly by a weak comparison period a year earlier is called: (a) the base effect (b) the multiplier effect (c) the crowding-out effect (d) the ratchet effect → (a).
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Index questions are among the most predictable in the economy section, and they come in four shapes. The composition item — which industry is or is not among the core industries, where the classic distractors are textiles, automobiles and sugar, none of which belong. The weight item — which sector has the highest weight, asked almost verbatim across sessions, with candidates who guess "coal" or "steel" getting it wrong because the intuitive answer is not the weighted one. The agency item — pairing an index with the body that publishes it: ICI with the Office of the Economic Adviser, IIP with the NSO, WPI with the Office of the Economic Adviser, CPI with the NSO. The base-year item — the current base year for ICI, IIP, WPI and CPI, and why bases are revised at all.
The fresh 2026 hook is the 2022-23 base and the addition of iron ore, which makes the older "eight core industries" list incomplete without a caveat, plus the 5.4 per cent July print. A statement-type question stating that electricity has the largest weight and that core industries are about 40 per cent of IIP is close to inevitable — and both halves are true. We describe the recurring pattern, not any exact past question.
Preparing for CDS or OTA? Data releases are worth more than they look: one release gives you a composition table, an agency, a base year and a live number, and those four things recur every month. Build the base with our notes on inflation and price indices and the CDS/OTA economy hub, follow the daily CDS/OTA current affairs, and prepare with our faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Aditya Tiwari — Economy & polity faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).
Source: PIB / Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 20 August 2026. Index structure cross-verified with independent sources.