Govt pegs India’s GDP growth at 6.4 pc for 2024-25; agriculture bounces back, services surge

New Delhi: India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to grow at 6.4 per cent in the financial year 2024-25 down from 8.2 per cent growth recorded in 2023-24, according to the first advance estimates released by the Ministry of Statistics on Tuesday.

The projection is lower than the recent RBI’s estimate of 6.6 per cent for the current fiscal year but India still remains the fastest-growing major economy in the world with China’s growth rate slipping to below 5 per cent.

The agriculture, construction and services sectors have emerged as the bright spots, recording an acceleration in the rate of growth compared to the previous year, the figures show.

Agriculture and allied sectors are estimated to grow by 3.8 per cent during 2024-25 as compared to the growth of 1.4 per cent witnessed during the last year. The construction sector and financial, real estate, and professional services sectors are estimated to observe good growth rates of 8.6 per cent and 7.3 per cent, respectively.

There has also been a pick up in the private final consumption expenditure, which has witnessed a growth rate of 7.3 per cent during this fiscal over the growth rate of 4 per cent in the previous year, according to the official statement.

The Government’s final consumption expenditure has rebounded to a growth rate of 4.1 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 2.5 per cent in the previous financial year, adding to the overall demand in the economy, the figures show.

Releasing the first advance estimates of national income for 2024-25, the NSO said, “Real GDP has been estimated to grow by 6.4 per cent in FY2024-25 as compared to the growth rate of 8.2 per cent in Provisional Estimate (PE) of GDP for FY2023-24”.

The figures have been released ahead of the Union Budget 2024-25, underscoring the need to spur growth with continued investments in large infrastructure projects and focus on maintaining the momentum in the agriculture sector.

India’s economy clocked a GDP growth rate of 5.4 per cent for the second quarter (July-September) of the current financial year which was a marked slowdown over the previous quarter.

The unexpected slowdown in the second quarter prompted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to lower its estimate for the growth forecast to 6.6 per cent, from the earlier projection of 7.2 per cent.

IANS