GDP growth slows to 4.4 per cent y-o-y in June quarter

India's economic growth slumped to 4.4 per cent during the first quarter ended June 30, the worst in over four years, due to poor performance of the manufacturing and mining sectors.

The economy had expanded by 4.8 per cent in the previous quarter and 5.4 per cent in the same quarter in 2012-13.

The manufacturing sector contracted 1.2 per cent and mining output dropped 2.8 per cent in the quarter ended June 30. The growth of agriculture sector fell to 2.7 per cent while the services sector registered a healthy 9.4 per cent growth in April-June quarter of the current financial year.

According to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), quarterly GDP at factor cost at constant (2004-2005) prices for the first quarter of 2013-14 was estimated at Rs 13.71 lakh crore, against Rs 13.14 lakh crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, showing a growth rate of 4.4 per cent year-on-year.

"The GDP figures for first quarter clearly show that the economy continues to be in the throes of a slowdown. The concern becomes more acute when we see that at the present moment, there are no clear indications that the economy has bottomed out," said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, Confederation of Indian Industry.

This is the worst quarterly growth in India's gross domestic product (GDP) since January-March quarter of 2009, the year of the global financial crisis.

"The economy needs the undivided attention of policy makers," he said.