GDP growth rate figure of 6.3% may go up further: Hasmukh Adhia

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Thursday said there may be an underestimation in the second quarter GDP growth rate figure of 6.3 per cent, which could go up further after the real picture about the indirect taxes becomes clear.

Referring to TCA Anant's remarks while releasing the GDP figures, he said even the Chief Statistician "was not too sure" whether this is the final number.

Adhia said while calculating the GDP figure this time, the indirect tax number that was taken was based on certain calculations.

"Now he (Anant) himself was not too sure whether this is the final number. Because he said that in the previous regime, people knew what their tax liability was because the regime was well-settled," Adhia told reporters here.

But in the case of GST, it is not sure if the taxes paid in the July-September quarter reflect the real picture as the government gave a lot more time to pay taxes and postponed the deadline multiple times.

"So there is an underestimation there. To that extent, the GDP number may go up when it is finally revised," Adhia said.

Official data released revealed that a rise in the manufacturing sector's output pushed India's growth rate higher to 6.3 per cent during the second quarter of 2017-18 breaking a five quarters slump.

On a sequential basis, India's GDP growth for Q2 of the current fiscal went up to 6.3 per cent, from 5.7 per cent reported during the first quarter of 2017-18.