May 31 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Just a day before the voting for the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections, good news has come on the economy front. The country’s economy grew at 7.8 percent year-on-year in the March quarter of the financial year 2023-24. With this, the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) increased to 8.2 percent in the entire financial year. According to official data released on Friday, the GDP growth rate in January-March 2024 was 7.8 percent, which was 6.2 percent in the same quarter a year ago. However, the growth rate of the March quarter has slowed down compared to October-December, 2023. The country’s economy grew at a high rate of 8.6 percent in the December quarter. GDP indicates the total value of final goods and services produced within the geographical boundary of the country in a given period. According to the data of the National Statistical Office (NSO), the country’s GDP has grown at a rate of 8.2 percent in the entire financial year 2023-24. The GDP growth rate was seven percent in the financial year 2022-23. In its second advance estimate, the NSO had projected GDP growth rate for the financial year 2023-24 to be 7.7 percent. On the economic front, the economic growth rate of China, India’s main rival, stood at 5.3 percent in the January-March quarter.
Strong urban demand strengthened the economy
Higher spending on infrastructure and strong urban demand are two major factors that keep India’s economy strong. This is the reason why the Reserve Bank of India expects the economy to grow at a rate of about 8% in FY 2025.
RBI had estimated this much
According to data released on Friday by the National Statistical Office (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI), India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the quarter ended March 31, 2024 has exceeded the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) estimate of 6.9 percent.
Eight core sectors grew at 6.2% in April
The growth rate of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to 6.2 per cent in April, driven by healthy expansion in production of natural gas, refinery products and electricity. The production of the eight sectors grew by 6 per cent in March. The growth in these core sectors – which include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity – was 4.6 per cent in April 2023. Fertilizer production recorded negative growth in April, official data showed.