NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday marginally lowered India’s growth forecast to 6.3 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier projection of 6.4 per cent on account of slowing exports and the likely impact of erratic rainfall on agriculture output.

Indian growth in the rest of this fiscal year and next will be propelled by robust domestic consumption as consumer confidence improves, and by investment, including large increases in government capital expenditure, according to the Asian Development Outlook September 2023.

“As slowing exports could foment headwinds for the economy, and erratic rainfall patterns are likely to undermine agricultural output, the growth forecast for FY2023 is revised down marginally to 6.3 per cent,” ADB said.

The April Asian Development Outlook had projected a GDP growth of 6.4 per cent for India for FY2023. The forecast is retained at 6.7 per cent for FY2024, when rising private investment and industrial output are expected to drive growth.

India’s economy grew by 7.8 per cent year on year in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 (ending 31 March 2024), reflecting strong growth in services and rising investment fueled by public investment and bank credit to the private sector.