By Krishnan Nayar
NEW DELHI, 1st June, 2023 (WAM) — Farm services, construction and manufacturing have emerged as strong sectors of the Indian economy, pushing up overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to 7.2 percent in the fiscal year 2022-23, according data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
This is higher than previous projections of 7 percent. India’s fiscal year runs from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023.
Strong performance clocking a 6.1 percent growth in the January to March 2023 quarter of the last financial year, pushed up the overall GDP growth. This was higher than the 4.5 percent growth in the previous quarter.
Following the release of the latest figures, the Indian government’s Chief Economic Adviser, V Anantha Nageswaran, said, “We look forward to another year of solid economic performance.”
India’s Ministry of Finance said after the release of the NSO statistics that “India has been the fastest growing among the major economies in the world over the last fiscal and its last quarter ending in March 2023 as well. Growth in the year was driven by robust private consumption and a sustained increase in capital formation.”
Simultaneous data published yesterday by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed that India’s fiscal deficit for the financial year 2022-23 was in line with the government’s budget estimate of 6.4 percent of GDP, helped by increased revenue receipts.
Recovery in the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic led to sharp increases in revenues, the CGA figures showed.