GDP growth hits 2-yr high of 8.2 per cent in Q1

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices (2011-12) had grown at 5.6 per cent in the April-June quarter of last fiscal, according to government data released Friday. The size of the GDP in the first quarter of 2018-19 was estimated at Rs 33.74 lakh crore, as against Rs 31.18 lakh crore in Q1 of 2017-18, a growth rate of 8.2 per cent, as per the statement of the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The previous high in quarterly GDP growth was recorded in the January-March quarter of 2015-16 at 9.3 per cent. The Chinese economy had expanded at the rate of 6.7 per cent in the April-June period this year. India’s Gross Value Added (GVA) for the quarter under consideration has been estimated at 8 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent in the year-ago period.

The quarterly GVA at constant (2011-2012) prices for Q1 of 2018-19 has been estimated at Rs 31.63 lakh crore, as against Rs 29.29 lakh crore in Q1 of 2017-18, showing a growth rate of 8 per cent over the year-ago period.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a tweet that the growth represents the potential of new India. “Reforms and fiscal prudence are serving us well. India is witnessing an expansion of the neo middle class.” 

Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram today expressed scepticism over India’s GDP growth prospects, saying it would “not be so favourable” in third and fourth quarters, despite the GDP growing at 8.2 per cent in the current fiscal’s first quarter.