Indian economy to grow 7.3% in FY24: Govt's first advance estimates

The growth in India's real gross domestic product (GDP) during 2023-24 is estimated at 7.3 per cent as compared to 7.2 per cent in 2022-23, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said on Friday in its first advance estimates of national accounts.

"Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in the year 2023-24 is estimated at Rs 296.58 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2022-23 of Rs 272.41 lakh crore, released on May 31, 2023. The growth in nominal GDP during 2023-24 is estimated at 8.9 per cent as compared to 16.1 per cent in 2022-23," said NSO.

An increased estimate of annual GDP was widely expected after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised its own growth forecast last month to 7% for the current fiscal year, from an earlier estimate of 6.5%.

The central bank's revised growth forecast of 7% for 2023/24 was a "conservative estimate" considering robust growth reflected in high-frequency indicators data for October and November, Michael Patra, RBI's deputy governor said last month.

The Indian economy grew faster than expected 7.6% year-on-year in the September quarter, after growing 7.8% in the previous quarter, prompting many private economists to upwardly revise their yearly estimates.

S&P Global Ratings expects India will remain the fastest-growing major economy for the next three years, setting to become the world's third-largest economy by 2030.

S&P expects India, currently the world's fifth-largest economy, to grow at 6.4% this fiscal and estimates growth will pick up to 7% by fiscal 2027.

In contrast, it expects China's growth to slow to 4.6% by 2026 from an estimated 5.4% this year.

With inputs from Reuters