Indian Economy To End Fiscal Year With 6.7% Growth: Economists

New Delhi, Dec 1 (KNN) The Indian economy is estimated to grow at a 6.7 per cent to 7 per cent rate in the financial year ending March 31, 2024, several economists said.

Their projections have increased after the country blew past growth estimates for the July-September quarter.

The country's economy expanded 7.6 per cent in the July-September quarter, trouncing estimates of a 6.8 per cent rise, data released on Thursday showed.

Stronger-than-expected growth in the first half of the year, along with continued government spending and some revival in private investment has prompted economists to raise their growth forecast to higher than the government's estimate of 6.5 per cent.

“With 7.7 per cent real GDP growth in the first half of 2023-24, the overall growth for full fiscal would be around 7 per cent...though there are chances that it may cross the 7 per cent mark,” said Saumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economist at State Bank of India. He had an earlier forecast growth at 6.7 per cent.

The government stuck to its 6.5 per cent growth forecast for the year, but chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said he was “more comfortable with an upside to this projection than before”.

Citigroup revised its growth forecast for the financial year upwards by 50 basis points to 6.7 per cent citing a pick-up in investment activity.

Gross fixed capital formation, an indicator of investment, rose 11 per cent in the July-September quarter.

“This reaffirms our view of sustained investment recovery,” the Wall Street bank's chief India economist Samiran Chakraborty said in a note.

(KNN Bureau)