New Delhi, The output of India's eight major industries crashed in April 2020 by over 38 per cent on account of the national lockdown implemented to curb the Covid-19 outbreak.

On a sequential basis, the Index of Eight Core Industries had declined by 9 per cent in March 2020 and a rise of 5.2 per cent in April 2019.

The eight core industries include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.

As per the ECI, all sectors contracted in April, led by a massive decline in cement and steel production.

The ECI comprises over 40 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

"The growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for April 2020 declined by 38.1 per cent (provisional) compared to decline of 9 per cent (provisional) in the previous month of March 2020," the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

"In view of nationwide lockdown during April 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, various industries viz. Coal, Cement, Steel, Natural Gas, Refinery, Crude Oil etc experienced substantial loss of production."

According to ICRA's Principal Economist Aditi Nayar, while the lockdown contributed to a broad-based contraction across all the eight core sectors, it had a differential impact on the extent to which activity was curtailed in the various constituents.