NEW DELHI: The country’s
economic growth
in the January-March quarter of 2019-20 expanded at its slowest pace in 40 quarters at 3.1%, dragged down by the manufacturing and construction sectors and some impact of the national lockdown in late March. Only the farm sector and government spending stayed firm.
Data released by
the National Statistical Office
(NSO) on Friday also showed overall GDP growth in 2019-20 slowing to an 11-year low of 4.2%, lower than the earlier estimate of 5%. Several major economies which had imposed lockdowns earlier have witnessed a contraction in their January-March quarter growth while a handful of countries led by India have managed to post expansion during the period. The NSO said that both the quarterly as well as annual GDP growth numbers are likely to undergo revision as data flow from “economic entities had been impacted.”
Economists say the lockdown, which