India Inc says GDP figures point to recovery

India Inc on Friday described as "encouraging" the GDP figures released earlier in the day, saying these confirmed industry's assessment that the economy is showing signs of recovery.

India's gross domestic product grew by 7.3 percent during 2014-15 from the 4.7 percent increase in the previous fiscal, government data showed on Friday.

"GDP growth of 7.3 percent in 2014-15 is encouraging and is in line with broad expectations," A.Didar Singh, secretary general of industry chamber FICCI, said in a statement here.

"Some downside risks continue to pervade. Agriculture output may be impacted with a sub-normal monsoon forecast this year, weak demand remains a persisting concern and a firm turnaround in the domestic capex cycle is awaited," he added.

He said the results of FICCI's Business Confidence surveys indicate strain on parameters like profits and exports, which is also reaffirmed by the actual quarterly corporate results.

The data also showed that the economy expanded by 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014-15, from 6.6 percent rise in the September-December quarter.

"The GDP numbers for the fourth quarter show a rebound in growth as compared to the previous quarter on the back of improved performance of the mining and manufacturing sectors as well as trade," said Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) director general Chandrajit Banerjee.

"The figures show that investment demand is showing definite signs of improvement over the previous quarter. We are hopeful that consumption demand would pick up pace in the coming time," he added.

"The 7.5 percent GDP growth rate witnessed in Q4 of 2014-15 (year-on-year) signals definite positive developments," said Rana Kapoor, president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

"The government needs to keep on pushing more ground level reforms and improve implementation so as to realize the economy's true potential," Kapoor added.

Chief economist at ZyFin Research Debopam Chaudhuri said that with 57 percent of the GDP composed of private final consumption expenditure, a recovering PFCE is vital for its future growth.

"It is encouraging to note a marginal rise in growth of PFCE from 6.2 percent in FY 13-14 to 6.3 percent in FY 14-15. With recovering consumer confidence, we can expect PFCE to improve further lending support to the Indian growth story," he said.