India's GDP grows 7.7 pc in Q4, retains fastest growing economy tag

Robust performance by manufacturing, construction and service sectors and good farm output pushed the India's January-March 2018 GDP growth to a seven-quarter high of 7.7 per cent, helping it retain the fastest growing major economy tag, government data showed today.

India's economic expansion at 7.7 per cent was significantly higher than China's 6.8 per cent in the January-March period.

However on yearly basis, the Indian economy grew at a four-year low of 6.7 per cent in 2017-18, down from 7.1 per cent in the previous fiscal. The previous low was recorded in 2013-14 at 6.4 per cent.

"GDP at 2011-12 prices in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 registered growth rate of 7.7 per cent as against 5.6 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, in the first three quarters of 2017-18. Rapid growth in agriculture (4.5 per cent), manufacturing (9.1 per cent) and construction (11.5 per cent) contributed to the overall growth," the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said in its national accounts data released today.

The previous high GDP growth of 8.1 per cent was recorded in the April-June quarter of 2016-17. The GDP growth was 6.1 per cent in January-March 2016-17.

Commenting on data, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said, "The constant increasing trend of quarterly GDP numbers in the four quarters of 2017-18 at 5.6 per cent, 6.3 per cent, 7 per cent and 7.7 per cent indicates that the structural measures of reforms undertaken by government is now bringing rich dividends in the form of higher GDP growth rate."