India's GDP growth rate pegged at 6.5% for FY18

New Delhi: The Indian economy is expected to grow at a slower 6.5 percent in 2017-18 compared to the 7.1 percent in 2016-17, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) releasing the first advance estimates of GDP growth for current financial year on Friday said.

Most private economists have pared India`s growth forecast to 6.2 to 6.5 percent for the 2017-18 fiscal year, citing the impact of the chaotic launch of Goods and Services Tax in July on business activities.

Reversing a five-quarter slide in GDP growth, Indian economy bounced back from a three-year low to expand by 6.3 percent in July-September as manufacturing revved up and businesses adjusted to the new GST tax regime.

The GDP growth in the second quarter of 2017-18 compared to 5.7 percent in April-June, the lowest growth rate since the Narendra Modi government took office, and 7.5 percent in the September quarter of the previous fiscal.

According to the estimate of national income for 2017-18 released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant (2011-12) prices for 2017-18 is likely to attain a level of Rs 129.85 lakh crore.

"The growth in GDP during 2017-18 is estimated at 6.5 percent as compared to the growth rate of 7.1 percent in 2016-17," the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation said in its estimate of National Income for 2017-18.

The CSO has primarily used seven-month data to extrapolate for the full fiscal.

As per the data, the Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic constant prices (2011-12) is anticipated to increase from Rs 111.85 lakh crore in 2016-17 to Rs 118.71 lakh crore in 2017-18.

"Anticipated growth of real GVA at basic prices in 2017-18 is 6.1 percent as against 6.6 percent in 2016-17."

The data disclosed that sectors like 'public administration, defence and other services', ‘Trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting', ‘electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services' and 'financial, real estate and professional services' registered a growth rate of over 7 percent.

On the other hand, growth in the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing', ‘mining and quarrying', ‘manufacturing' and ‘construction' sectors "is estimated to be 2.1 percent, 2.9 percent, 4.6 percent and 3.6 percent", respectively.

With Agency Inputs