India’s GDP growth rate declined for the second consecutve quarter in October-December (Q3FY23), coming in at 4.4 per cent, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday. The latest quarterly growth number at 4.4 per cent is lower than the 6.3 per cent growth that was seen in the second quarter of 2022-23.
However, the estimates for FY22 have been revised upwards to 9 per cent against the earlier estimate of 8.7 per cent.
The growth in nominal GDP at current price during FY23 is estimated at 15.9 per cent as compared to 18.4 per cent in FY22.
In October-December 2021, the economy grew by 11.2 per cent and by 6.3 per cent in the July-September 2022 quarter, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Tuesday. The NSO in its second advance estimate of national accounts pegged the country’s growth at 7 per cent for 2022-23.
The gross value added growth for the third quarter came in at 4.6 per cent, as against 5.5 per cent in the July-September period.
In the first Advance Estimates released in January too, MoSPI had estimated GDP growth in FY23 at 7 per cent, marginally higher than projections by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and World Bank at 6.8 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively.
In December, the RBI had forecast a growth rate of 4.4 per cent for the last quarter of 2022.
The data assumes significance since in December 2022, the RBI lowered the country’s GDP growth forecast to 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal. It was cut from the earlier projection of 7 per cent. The RBI had projected the real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 6.8 per cent, with the third quarter and fourth quarter growth at 4.4 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively. It had trimmed the growth projection for 2022-23 for the third time in December last year.
The Asian Development Bank has projected the Indian economy to expand 7 per cent while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pegged the growth at 6.8 per cent in 2022-23.
Meanwhile, production of eight core sector growth expanded at a four-month high of 7.8 per cent in January, which is up from a 7 per cent growth recorded in December, according to the data released by the government on Tuesday.