Why farm growth held up as other key sectors slowed down

India's farm economy, which employs nearly half the population, is forecast to outperform other key sectors during 2024-25, but the expansion is partly due to a so-called base effect, analysts said on Wednesday, a day after the release of full-year official estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

- Zia Haq

Agriculture and its sub-sectors are projected to grow 3.8% against a target of 4% on the back of a good monsoon, easing of export restrictions and higher production of cereals, the statistics showed.

By contrast, manufacturing and mining decelerated, pulling down overall GDP growth to 6.4% in the current fiscal against 8.2% in the previous year. This is the slowest GDP expansion in four years.