GDP growth for Oct-Dec 2023 quarter comes at 8.4%, higher than estimates

India's economic growth accelerated to a massive 8.4 per cent for the October to December quarter of 2023-24, coming in much higher than estimates of around 6.6%.

This was mainly due to a strong performance by the manufacturing, mining & quarrying and construction sectors.

GDP growth for the full year, FY24 has has been pegged higher at 7.6%.

While sectors like manufacturing put up a robust show, agriculture cooled thanks to an erratic monsoon, National Statistical Office (NSO) data showed.

The Indian economy expanded at 7.8% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year and 7.6% during the second quarter, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to revise its full fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) growth forecast to 7% from 6.5%.

In its initial advance projection, the National Statistics Organization (NSO) forecasts a robust 7.3% growth for the fiscal year concluding in March 2024.

Meanwhil, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) takes a more conservative stance, predicting a 6.7% GDP expansion for India in FY24.