India’s core industries output rose 7.9% from a year earlier in September, accelerating from a revised 5.9% growth in August, led by strong gains in iron ore, electricity, coal and refinery products, government data showed Tuesday.

The September growth was also sharply higher than the 3.1% expansion recorded a year earlier.

Iron ore output rose 18.4% on year, while electricity generation increased 11.4%. Coal production grew 10.7% and refinery products rose 10.3%.

Cement output increased 9.8% and steel production grew 4.9%.

Natural gas output fell 4.6%, crude oil declined 1.4%, and fertiliser production contracted 11.7%.

The overall core industries index stood at 118.3 in September, compared with 109.6 a year earlier.

Growth in the eight core industries during April-September accelerated to 5.1% from 2.5% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The government also revised August core sector growth to 5.9% from the provisional estimate of 4.8%. The August index was revised to 120.4 from 119.2.

The core industries index has base year 2022-2023 and covers coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity and iron ore.