India’s economy grows 5.4 per cent in July-September, well below expectations

India’s economic growth slowed to near two-year low of 5.4 per cent in July-September quarter of the ongoing fiscal against 8.1 per cent in the year-ago period, mainly due to poor show by manufacturing sector, according to official data released on Friday.

India remained the fastest-growing major economy as China’s GDP growth in the July-September quarter this year was 4.6 per cent.

The previous low level of GDP growth at 4.3 per cent was recorded in the third quarter (October-December 2022) of financial year 2022-23.

The growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was lower than the RBI's estimate of 7%.

As per the National Statistical Office (NSO) data, the GVA (Gross Value Added) of the agriculture sector accelerated to 3.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2023-24 from 1.7 per cent a year ago.

The GVA growth of the manufacturing sector decelerated to 2.2 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal against 14.3 per cent growth registered a year ago.

The growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the April-September period in 2024-25 stood at 6 per cent compared to 8.2 per cent in the first half of the previous financial year.

The GDP growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal remained unchanged at 6.7 per cent.