Q2 GDP growth in line with RBI estimate at 6.3%

NEW DELHI: Indian economy grew at 6.3% in the quarter ending September 2022, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in a release on November 30, putting GDP growth for the first half of the fiscal year at 9.7%.

- Roshan Kishore and Rajeev Jayaswal

 Private consumption rose 9.7% in the quarter, and investments, as reflected by gross fixed capital formation, by 10.4%, pointing to a continuing recovery in the economy, but analysts said global headwinds will temper growth over the current quarter and the next.

The latest GDP number is exactly in line with the September 2022 projection of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and marginally higher than the 6.2% growth projection by economists in a Bloomberg poll.

However, the larger trend in the GDP numbers is that of moderation of growth momentum which is also in keeping with the MPC's projections of GDP growth coming down to 4.6% in both the remaining two quarters of the fiscal year. The fact that growth of eight core sector industries plummeted to 0.1% in the month of October according to data released Wednesday, supports this prognosis.

To be sure, India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy in the world in 2022-23 and 2023-24 according to most institutional and private forecasters. "In an uncertain external environment, domestic demand is expected to drive GDP growth," Chief Economic Advsior (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said reacting to the GDP numbers, adding that the Indian economy is on track to achieve a 6.8-7 % GDP growth in 2022-23.