Indian Economy hits a new low, GDP growth slows down to 7.1%

Indian economy grew at the slowest pace in last six quarters at 7.1 per cent in the April-June period of current fiscal mainly on subdued performance of mining, construction and farm sectors.

GDP had recorded 7.5 per cent growth in the April-June quarter of last fiscal and 7.9 per cent in January-March quarter. The previous low was 6.6 per cent GDP growth in the October-December quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal.

According to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Gross Value Added (GVA), which is estimated at the basic (rpt) basic price, showed a growth of 7.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2016-17.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth data is calculated under the new methodology at market price, while GVA is calculated primarily at factor cost. GDP is GVA plus taxes on products minus subsidies on them.

The economic activities which registered growth of over 7 per cent in the April-June quarter, over year-ago period, are manufacturing; electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services; trade, hotels, transport & communication and services related to broadcasting; financial, insurance, real estate and professional services and public administration, defence and other services.

Growth in agriculture; forestry and fishing; mining & quarrying and construction is estimated to be 1.8 per cent, (-) 0.4 per cent, and 1.5 per cent respectively.