India's resilient GDP rises 7.8%

New Delhi: The government on Thursday said that India’s economy remained resilient and the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year 2023-24 compared to 13.1 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Staying on track in Q1 FY24, the economy showed significant growth due to domestic demand; the government capital expenditure and a services-led recovery shielded the nation from tighter monetary and weak global conditions.

India remained the fastest-growing major economy as China posted a 6.3 per cent growth in April-June 2023. As per the data released by National Statistical Office (NSO), the government also claimed that India remained the fastest growing large economy, mainly due to better performance by agriculture and financial sectors.

Chief economic adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nagesw aran said India’s quarterly GDP growth towers over that of many other economies. “The government and the RBI are comfortable in holding on to their FY24 GDP growth forecast of 6.5 per cent. It is good to know that states are also joining the capex creation bandwagon Private capital formation is no longer waiting to take off and it has taken off,” Nageswaran said.

On rising inflation, he said, overall there is no real cause for concern about inflation spiralling out of control as the government and RBI are taking measures to maintain adequate supply and I think food inflation likely to subside with arrival of fresh stock and government's measures, while impact of deficient rains in August will be watched out for.

“On the capex front, the revenue expenditure to capex ratio has declined during April-July. For the construction sector, I think that there is enough indication that this sector will continue to expand in the coming quarters and years,” the CEA added.

The data showed that the agriculture sector recorded a 3.5 per cent growth, up from 2.4 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2022-23, while manufacturing sector decelerated to 4.7 per cent in the first quarter compared to 6.1 per cent in the year-ago period.

“India also recorded April-June private consumption growth at six per cent as against 2.8 per cent in January-March and 19.8 per cent in April-June 2022, while India’s construction sector recorded growth at 7.9 per cent in same period as against 10.4 per cent in January-March and 16 per cent in April-June 2022,” the data showed.

The GDP growth during the January-March quarter of 2022-23 was 6.1 per cent and 4.5 per cent during October-December.

“Real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in Q1 2023-24 is estimated to attain a level of Rs 40.37 lakh crore, as against Rs 37.44 lakh crore in Q1 2022-23, showing a growth of 7.8 per cent as compared to 13.1 per cent in Q1 2022-23,” the NSO said.