By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian economy grew by 8.6 percent during the quarter ended March 31, lifting the annual gross domestic product (GDP) for 2009-10 to 7.4 percent, official data released Monday showed.
And Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he expected the growth momentum to continue and the economy would expand at 8.5 percent in the current financial year.
The economy had registered a 6.1 percent growth in the first quarter, 7.9 percent in the second, but dropped to a modest 6 percent in the third.
Growth during January-March was mainly due to higher performance in mining and quarrying which grew by 14 percent and manufacturing by 16.3 percent, data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) here showed.
Among other high growth sectors during the quarter were hotels and transport services which grew by 12.4 percent. Financial services, including insurance, grew by 7.9 percent.
The arrival of fresh crops and a higher output helped agriculture grow by 0.7 percent, having dropped significantly in the previous quarter of 2009-10 due to a poor monsoon.
The rate of increase in the gross domestic product was 7.4 percent in 2009-10 compared to 6.7 percent in 2008-09, mainly due to a robust rise in manufacturing, mining and other allied activities and financial services.
The growth in many sectors has been primarily fuelled by a huge government stimulus to counter slowing demand in wake of the global financial crisis.
During the fiscal under review, manufacturing grew by 10.8 percent, mining by 10.6 percent, hotels, financial services by 9.7 percent and transport and communication by 9.3 percent.
The farm sector grew at a lower rate of 0.2 percent for the whole year due to the adverse impact of an erratic and deficient monsoon seen in previous quarters.
Per capita income grew 10.5 percent at Rs.44,345 as compared to the previous fiscal’s figure of Rs. 40,141.
With economic growth back on track and inflation still high, the Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise key policy rates at the second quarterly review of monetary policy on July 27.