India's GDP growth falls to 4.5%

Hit by poor performance of farm, mining and manufacturing sector, economic growth in the October-December period of the current financial year slipped to 4.5 per cent -- decade's lowest quarterly growth.

Concerned over the low growth, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said efforts are being made to achieve higher growth and hoped that GDP will grow by over 6 per cent in the next financial year.

The GDP had grown by 6 per cent in the October-December period of last fiscal. The economic growth in the first nine months of this fiscal (April-December) stood at 5.1 per cent, lower than 6.6 per cent in the year-ago period.

The economy had grown by 5.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent in the first quarter and the second quarter, respectively, of 2012-13.

"The first half is 5.4. The second half must be below 5 if the prediction is 5 per cent for the annual growth," Chidambaram said.

Speak to experts on Live Chat!
Union Budget, as it unfolded on February 28
Complete coverage: Union Budget 2013-14
Budget Impact Live!

"The growth rate for the next year, I am as confident as my Chief Economic Advisor advises me to be confident. I am as confident as the advice given by the Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council," he said.

The Economic Survey of 2012-13 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday has predicted a growth rate of 6.1-6.7 per cent for the next fiscal.

During October-December quarter of 2012-13, manufacturing sector grew marginally by 2.5 per cent, against 0.7 per cent growth in the same period of 2011-12, according to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) today.

Farm sector output expanded by just 1.1 per cent in the October-December period this fiscal, against 4.1 per cent in the same quarter last fiscal.

Commenting the GDP figures, Ficci said the numbers puts forth the persisting gloomy situation in the economy.

...

Mining and quarrying sector, however, showed some improvement and contracted by 1.4 per cent during the quarter, as against a decline in output by 2.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2011-12.

Trade, hotels, transport and communications segment also witnessed lower pace of growth at 5.1 per cent in the quarter against 6.9 per cent in the same quarter in year ago.

The growth rate of electricity, gas and water supply also dipped to 4.5 per cent in the third quarter, from 7.7 per cent witnessed in the same quarter of 2011-12.

Construction sector expanded by 5.8 per cent in Q3 of 2012-13, as against 6.9 per cent in the year-ago period.

Growth rate of services sector, including insurance and real estate, stood at 7.9 per cent in the third quarter, against 11.4 per cent in same quarter last fiscal.

According to the CSO data, during April-December period of this fiscal manufacturing sector grew by just 1.2 per cent against 3.6 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal, mining and quarrying marginally recovered to a growth of 0.1 per cent from a contraction in the output by 2.8 per cent.

The farm and allied sectors growth declined to 1.7 per cent in the nine month period under review cent compared to 4.3 per cent a year ago.

...

Electricity, gas and water supply segment growth plunged to 4.7 per cent in the nine month of the current fiscal compared 7.6 per cent in the same period in 2011-12.

"Though some initial signs of optimism were indicated in the declining inflation numbers and a mild upturn was seen in exports, current GDP data has once again come as a mood dampener. It reaffirms the fact that we might just record a growth of 5 per cent this financial year," Ficci President Naina Lal Kidwai said in a statement.

Assocham President Rajkumar Dhoot said that the figures reflects that the downslide of the Indian economy is yet to see the bottom and hence recovery remains elusive.

"Given the nature of policy proposals contained in the Union Budget for 2013-14, it seems that revival is going to be a long drawn process unlike in the case of 2009," he said.