look news india
Ahmedabad: India's economy is likely to remain sluggish in the third quarter of FY 2024, October-December, due to a slowdown in industrial growth, agricultural production and consumer spending. According to analysts, the GDP growth figure for the December quarter of 2024 could be around 6.5 percent, a sharp decline from the 7.6 percent growth rate in the second quarter of the current financial year.
The Reserve Bank of India had earlier expected that the growth rate in the third quarter would be 6.5 percent. Third-quarter GDP data is scheduled to be released on Thursday, along with the second advance estimates for fiscal 2024 and first revised estimates for fiscal 2023.
Indicators such as Index of Industrial Production, electricity demand, steel and cement consumption can be seen as a reflection of the growth of the industrial sector, which grew by 5.9, 10.2, 14.5 and 4.9 per cent respectively during the third quarter. The Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector declined to 56.8 from 57.9 in the December quarter.
The growth rate of the agriculture sector is also likely to be below 4.7 percent in the December quarter of financial year 2023. The first advance estimates of the Kharif crop show that the total production of food grains this year will be less than last year. However, due to higher area under Rabi sowing, some improvement in the agriculture sector is expected in the next quarter. Overall consumption in rural areas also slowed in the December quarter. Consumption and luxury spending supported the economy in the last quarter.