India registers 8.4 percent GDP growth in Q2
New Delhi, Nov 30 (EFE).- Indian economy grew 8.4 percent during the second quarter of the ongoing financial year (April 2021 – March 2022), registering one of the fastest growth rates among the major economies, having contracted 7.4 percent during the same period last year.
The recovery during the July-September period comes mainly on the back of growth in key sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, public utilities, transport and communications, according to the Indian ministry of statistics.
With the latest data, India registered an estimated GDP growth of 13.7 percent during the first half of the fiscal year (between April and September), in sharp contrast to the 15.9 percent contraction the economy witnessed during the same period last year.
The Indian economy, which had already slowed down in recent years, witnessed an estimated contraction of 7.3 percent during the FY 2020-2021 due to restrictions linked to the pandemic.
During the first quarter of the last financial year (between April-June 2020), India’s GDP witnessed its biggest contraction on record, shrinking by 24.4 percent due to a total lockdown of over 1.35 billion citizens, with all sectors of the economy registering negative growth.
Subsequently the numbers have gradually improved every quarter starting October 2020, when the first Covid wave subsided.
The Reserve Bank of India – the central bank – has predicted a 9.5 percent growth for the ongoing financial year, and had issued a forecast of 7.9 percent growth for the second quarter.
The Indian finance ministry had forecast 11 percent growth for this financial year earlier in its annual survey.
Despite strong indications of a recovery, the government report warned that India would take at least 2 years to reach the pre-Covid growth levels. EFE
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