Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal and electricity, accounts for nearly 40% of industrial production.

Electricity generation grew 0.6% in the month, coal production rose 10.6% and the steel sector expanded 5.9%, the figures showed.

Cement output increased 1.3% in December but crude oil production fell 1%.

In the first nine months of the financial year that started on April 1, infrastructure output rose 8.1% year on year, the data showed.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya and Nikunj Ohri; Editing by Andrew Heavens)