Hyderabad: Signalling a strong V-shape recovery, the Indian economy bounced back sharply from the worst quarter in over four decades.
As per the official data released Friday, the contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) eased from 23.9% in April-June quarter (Q1) to 7.5% in July-September quarter (Q2).
In fact, at 16.4%, India’s recovery is the sharpest among major economies in comparison to the economies of the UK (15.5%), France (14.6) and the US (7.4%).
Terming the better than expected recovery as a ‘pleasant surprise’, Rajiv Kumar, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman, tweeted: “Speed of economic recovery springs a pleasant surprise. Manufacturing shows a positive growth which is the confirmation of a rebound of demand led recovery.”
What contributed to the strong recovery?
- The agriculture sector continues to be the bright spot during the current pandemic-triggered economic disruption. As per the data, agriculture, forestry and fishing sector grew 3.4% during Q2 – the same rate at which it grew in Q1.
- A sharp rebound was seen in the manufacturing sector, which managed to post a marginal growth of 0.6% in Q2 compared with negative growth of 39.3% in Q1.
- The real estate sector, which was the worst hit on the back of lockdowns and labour shortage, managed to pull-up itself from the dismal rate of -50.3% in Q1 to -8.6% in Q2.
- Non-essential services like hotel, transportation, communication, etc recovered sharply from 47% contraction in Q1 to -15.6% in Q2 on the back of a series of ‘unlock’ measures that started in last June.
