India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the quarter ended March 31, 2024 was 7.8 percent, according to data released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI).
This is higher than the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) estimate of 6.9 percent, according to the central bank’s GDP projections in its latest monetary policy review.
RBI predicts India’s economic growth
At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in April, the RBI maintained its FY25 GDP growth forecast unchanged at 7 per cent. For the quarter, the central bank set a GDP growth target of 7.1 percent, compared to 7.2 percent previously, for the first quarter of 25. For the second quarter of 25, the GDP growth target was set at 6, 9 percent, from 6.8 percent. For the third and fourth quarters, RBI forecasts GDP growth of 7 percent in both the third and fourth quarters.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the global economic situation appeared resilient and global trade was expected to grow. Das said that despite global inflation slowly moving closer to targets, the final phase of tackling inflation was proving difficult.
Das further warned that the deteriorating debt situation in some advanced economies could spill over to India as well.
At the time, the governor also announced that India’s foreign exchange reserves had reached a record high of $645.6 billion as of March 29.
Eight core sectors recorded growth of 6.2 percent in April
Earlier, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) registered a preliminary growth of 6.2 percent in April 2024 compared to April 2023, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. This positive trend reflects the increase in production of key industries, including electricity, natural gas, coal, steel, refinery products, crude oil and cement.
First print: May 31, 2024 | 5:34 PM IST