India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the October-December 2021 quarter (Q3) grew by 5.4 per cent. GDP for the entire financial year of 2021-22 (FY22) is seen growing by 8.9 per cent, according to the second advanced and quarterly estimates of GDP released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday. 

In its first advanced estimate released last month, the government had estimated the GDP in FY22 to grow by 9.2 per cent and the GDP in Q3 was estimated around 6 per cent. However, these estimates did not reflect the loss of economic activity in the last few months due to the impact of the new variants of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The government also marginally revised its GDP estimates in the previous two quarters. According to the latest data, the GDP for the July-September quarter (Q2) grew by 8.5 per cent instead of the previous estimate of by 8.4 per cent and by a sharp 20.3 per cent in the April-June quarter (Q1) instead of the earlier reported 20.1 per cent. 

The Indian economy had contracted by (-)6.6 per cent in the previous financial year (FY21). The FY22 GVA at basic prices is estimated at 8.3 per cent, according to the MoSPI data. 

In the third quarter, the manufacturing sector, which had grown by 5.6 per cent in Q2, rose by 0.2 per cent. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, which had grown by 3.7 per cent in Q2, expanded by 2.6 per cent in Q3. 

Among the other industries, a contraction was seen in the construction sector, which slipped by (-)2.8 per cent in Q3, down from growth of 8.2 per cent in Q2. The trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to the broadcasting segment rose by 6.1 per cent in Q3, down from growth of 9.5 per cent in Q2.