In some economic good news for India amid the US tariff conundrum, the GDP has grown by 7.8% in the first quarter of this financial year against an estimate of 6.5%. The figure is also 1.3 percentage points higher than in the same timeframe last year.
India's Gross Domestic Product had grown 6.5% in the April-June quarter in the last fiscal and the growth in the same three-month period in 2025-2026 represents the fastest rise in five quarters. The previous highest GDP growth was 8.4% in the January-March quarter of 2024.
China's growth in April-June this year was 5.2% and India's GDP figure means that it remains the fastest-growing major economy.
The growth was driven by the services and agricultural sectors, which saw a rise of 9.3% against 6.8% and 3.7% against 1.5%, respectively, in April-June last year, as per National Statistical Office (NSO) data. The construction sector's growth slowed to 7.6% this year against 10.1% last year.
Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India had projected real GDP growth for 2025-26 at 6.5% with Q1 at 6.5%, Q2 at 6.7%, Q3 at 6.6%, and Q4 at 6.3%.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had said, "The above normal southwest monsoon, lower inflation, rising capacity utilisation and congenial financial conditions continue to support domestic economic activity. The supportive monetary, regulatory and fiscal policies, including robust government capital expenditure, should also boost demand. The services sector is expected to remain buoyant, with sustained growth in construction and trade in the coming months."
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
