India's GDP Growth Slows To 6.3 Per Cent In July-September Quarter, In Line With RBI Projection

The GDP had expanded by 8.4 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2021-22, according to data released by the National Statistical Office

India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 6.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the second quarter (Q2) of the current financial year (Q2FY23), latest data released by the the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Wednesday stated. The GDP had expanded by 8.4 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2021-22, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The nominal growth rate was 16.2 per cent year-on-year. "Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in Q2 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 65.31 lakh crore as against Rs 56.20 lakh crore in Q2 2021-22, showing a growth of 16.2 per cent as compared to 19 per cent in Q2 2021-22," it added.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said real GDP growth for 2022-23 is projected at 7 per cent, with July-September at 6.3 per cent, October-December at 4.6 per cent, and January-March at 4.6 per cent, and risks broadly balanced. The central bank forecast a growth rate of 7 per cent for the full year.

Analysts had projected the Indian economy would expand at half of the growth rate of 13.5 per cent recorded in April-June quarter this fiscal year.

Earlier this month, in an article published in the RBI bulletin, the GDP growth was pegged at 6.1-6.3 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal year.

According to rating agency Icra, the GDP was likely to grow at 6.5 per cent while State Bank of India in its report, projected the growth rate at 5.8 per cent for July-September, 2022.

According to economists, the GDP data will cast light on the health of the economy as pandemic related disruptions ease and the government steps up spending in the hope that private spending and investments will follow.

"Several indicators suggest that the Indian economy is making resilient progress in Q2 FY23 in spite of the drag from global spill overs," State bank of India's economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, using the designation used by the government for the July-September quarter.

Ghosh, however, said annual GDP growth in the period could be slightly slower than the consensus expectation of over 6 per cent as companies have seen a decline in margins and industrial production increased at an annual pace of only 1.5 per cent on average last quarter, its weakest in two years.

China registered an economic growth rate of 3.9 per cent in July-September, 2022.