In India, during the period 2015 to 2016, growth in production (in percent) of which core industry was negative compared to the previous year?

Introduction / Context:
This question comes from Indian economy and infrastructure. India tracks the performance of eight core industries, which are key sectors of the economy. Growth in production for each industry is reported annually. The question asks which one of the listed industries recorded a negative growth rate in production during 2015 to 2016.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The industries in the options are natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, and coal.
• The time period under consideration is the financial year 2015 to 2016.
• Negative growth means the output declined compared with the previous year.
• We rely on standard government statistics for the eight core industries.

Concept / Approach:
The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity. Their combined performance is an indicator of industrial health. During 2015 to 2016, most of these industries showed positive growth, but natural gas output declined. Therefore, natural gas is the industry with a negative growth rate in that period among the options provided.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Summaries of core industry performance for 2015 to 2016 show a table where natural gas is the only item among the listed options with a minus sign in the growth column. Coal, refinery products, and fertilizers all have positive percentages. This independent data confirms the choice of natural gas as the industry with negative growth.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Refinery products are wrong because they experienced positive growth due to demand for petroleum products.
• Fertilizer is wrong since that sector expanded to support agricultural activities and did not shrink overall.
• Coal is wrong because it showed moderate positive growth, not negative, in that year.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes guess based on perceptions of pollution or resource depletion instead of remembering specific data. For example, they may think coal is declining because it is a polluting fuel. However, in this period coal production actually increased. It is safer to remember that natural gas was the only one among the listed core industries with negative growth in 2015 to 2016.

Final Answer:
Natural gas