The Indian economy continued to exhibit robust growth during the second quarter (July-September) of 2007-08, albeit with some moderation.
According to the estimates released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) in August 2007, real GDP growth was 8.9 per cent during the second quarter of 2007-08 as compared with 10.2 per cent during the same period in 2006-07. While ‘agriculture and allied activities’ recorded higher growth during the first half of 2007-08 over the corresponding period of the previous year, the growth of industrial and services sectors was somewhat lower than that during the first half of the previous year.
The cumulative rainfall during the South-West monsoon season 2007 (June 1 to September 30) was 5 per cent above normal as compared with one per cent below normal during the corresponding period of the previous year.
Cumulative rainfall during the North-East monsoon (October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007) was 32 per cent below normal as compared with 21 per cent below normal during the corresponding period of the previous year. The reported sown area of kharif crops (up to October 26, 2007) increased by 2.7 per cent, while that of rabi crops (up to January 18, 2008) was about 3.7 per cent lower than a year ago.
During April-November 2007, the index of industrial production (IIP) rose by 9.2 per cent as compared with the increase of 10.9 per cent recorded during the corresponding period of the previous year. The manufacturing sector registered a growth of 9.8 per cent during April-November 2007 as compared with 11.8 per cent during April-August 2006.
During April-November 2007, the infrastructure sector recorded a growth of 6.0 per cent as compared with 8.9 per cent a year ago, with all the sectors exhibiting growth rates lower than a year ago.
The services sector continued to record double-digit growth (10.5 per cent) in April-September 2007. Leading indicators of service sector activity for April-October 2007 show that growth rates in revenue earning freight traffic of the railways, commercial vehicles production, new cell phone connections, passengers handled by civil aviation at domestic terminals, cement and steel moderated albeit over a high base.
Source: Business Standard
