Bengaluru is at a critical juncture, where its economic model, reliant on attracting and retaining skilled professionals, is directly threatened by a measurable decline in urban quality of life, point out Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
Economists at the country's largest lender SBI on Wednesday said they see Q2 real GDP growth slowing down further to 6.5 per cent in the September quarter of this fiscal year. Amid concerns over the country's economic growth rate and if it is slowing down, the analysts said they expect FY25 growth to come "closer to" 7 per cent. It can be noted that the April-June period saw the real GDP expanding by 6.7 per cent, the lowest in 15 quarters.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday raised its forecast for India's economic growth to 6.3 per cent for current fiscal year 2023-24 from 6 per cent it had predicted previously. This is primarily because of a stronger outturn in the first quarter and near-term momentum. The growth forecast compares with 7.2 per cent GDP expansion in FY23. In the previous fiscal year (FY22), the economy had grown 9.1 per cent.
The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said economic growth during the current fiscal could exceed 7.2 per cent projected by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).
The economy is expected to grow 4.9 percent in 2013/14, marginally lower than the finance ministry's estimate of a 5 percent growth, dragged down by a contraction in the manufacturing sector, a government statement said on Friday.
The repo rate cut by 25 basis points by the monetary policy committee (MPC) of RBI announced Friday will give a long-awaited relief on interest rates and also be supportive of economic growth, according to experts. Repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks.
Foreign investors have pulled out Rs 11,820 crore ($1.3 billion) from Indian equities in the first week of this month, primarily driven by the sharp depreciation of the rupee. This sharp withdrawal follows a net outflow of Rs 3,765 crore in November, further pressuring markets.
Some analysts argue that Beijing has been too cautious in lowering rates and freeing up cash in the banking system, keeping real interest rates too high given low returns on investment.
The Reserve Bank should focus on making liquidity easier rather than cutting rates if the intent is to drive growth, Axis Bank's chief economist Neelkanth Mishra said on Tuesday. Mishra, who is also a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM, said the rate cut announced earlier this month or even the subsequent ones if they were to come will not end up increasing borrowings as the scarce liquidity will hamper transmission.
Despite a strong 7.8 per cent growth in the first quarter, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current financial year as the impact of US tariffs on Indian exports will reduce prospects, particularly in the second half, ADB said on Tuesday.
'We face the risk of remaining a low-income country for a very long time unless something changes in the next few years.' 'Instead of constantly talking about becoming a developed economy, we need to start fixing the problems of the economy one by one.' 'There is so much potential, and we are squandering away the opportunity.'
Fitch Ratings on Monday said India's steady GDP growth outlook, improved banking sector's financial health and expected interest-rate cuts in 2025 will support credit access for corporates in FY26.
'The central bank has highlighted that the slowdown in growth has been limited to a few sectors and overall growth is expected to pick up in the second half of the year.'
Despite gross domestic product (GDP) growth being lower-than-expected for the July-September quarter, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may not cut the policy repo rate in the review meeting scheduled for next week due to high inflation in October, according to experts. "Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation breaching the upper limit of the RBI's tolerance band in October (6.2 per cent year-on-year) is not a favourable backdrop for the MPC to commence the easing cycle, even as the growth outcome disappointed the MPC's expectations," said Shreya Sodhani, regional economist at Barclays, who expects the policy repo rate to be kept unchanged in the December meeting.
The economic growth slowed to a decade low of 5 per cent in the 2012-13 fiscal.
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Indian companies are keenly waiting for reforms on rules related to land acquisition, labour, coal and power sector, and foreign direct investment in insurance sector.
Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday said the economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal notwithstanding deficient rains in August. India recorded economic growth of 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2023-24 against 13.1 per cent in the year-ago period. India's economy in Q1 grew at the fastest pace in a year, on the shoulders of a boost in capital expenditure both at central and state levels, along with stronger consumption demand, especially in rural areas, and improved performance in the services sector, he said.
The Indian services sector growth touched an 11 month high in July, supported by a pickup in new exports orders and sharp rise in overall sales, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index was at 60.5 in July, little-changed from 60.4 in June, and the rate of expansion was the best seen since August 2024.
The services sector, which plays the biggest role in shaping the economy, is facing loads of issues currently. The largest segments, financial and real estate, are struggling to cope with bad debts and low demand for houses.
India's gross domestic product grew by 7.4 per cent in the first three months (Apr-Jun) of this fiscal mainly due to a robust manufacturing sector which clocked 8 per cent growth.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday raised its forecast for India's economic growth to 7 per cent for the next fiscal year starting April 1 on the back of strong domestic demand and sustained level of business and consumer confidence. With a stronger-than-expected 8.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) during the third quarter (October-December) of the current fiscal year, Fitch saw the Indian economy expanding 7.8 per cent in 2023-24 financial year (April 2023 to March 2024), marginally higher than the government's estimate of 7.6 per cent.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her 8th straight Budget and all eyes will be on the much-expected tax relief for the middle class. Sitharaman had in her first Budget in 2019 replaced the leather briefcase -- which had been in use for decades for carrying Budget documents -- with a traditional 'bahi-khata' wrapped in red cloth.
With improved prospects for the farm sector, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy on Friday raised the economic growth forecast for 2005-06 to 6.8 per cent from the earlier six per cent.
'The US reciprocal tariff has added another element of uncertainty and the central bank may prefer to wait and get further clarity.'
The Indian services sector growth touched a ten-month high in June aided by robust expansion in international sales and job creation, amid positive demand trends and ongoing improvement in sales, a monthly survey said on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 58.8 in May to 60.4 in June, driven by sharp upturn in new business orders.
A United Nation's body on Thursday pegged down India's economic growth prospects to 5.1 per cent in 2003 from an earlier projection of 6.0 per cent, mainly due to the impact of Iraq war, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Consumer Products, has said in the company's annual report for FY25 that India remains one of the bright spots of economic growth amid a volatile global environment. He said India's long-term growth was underpinned by strong demographic and economic fundamentals as well as structural reforms.
The weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity may result in the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to cut the repo rate by another 25 basis points, opine top economists. They also said the external economic pressures like trade policies and others would require continued RBI's accommodative stance and policy support for the Indian industry to sustain the growth.
Reserve Bank on Thursday retained the growth and inflation projection at 7.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively for the current fiscal amid expectations of a normal monsoon. In its last bi-monthly monetary policy review in June, RBI had projected real GDP growth and retail inflation at the same.
Mukherjee is in Washington, DC to co-chair the US-India CEO's Forum with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Bringing in the untapped informal sector into the formal one will benefit business.
India can sustain 8 per cent annual GDP growth and the conducive macroeconomic configuration may become a launching pad for a step-up in the country's growth trajectory, said an article on the 'State of Economy' in the central bank's March Bulletin published on Tuesday. Over the period 2021-24, gross domestic product (GDP) growth has averaged above 8 per cent. The global economy is losing steam, with growth slowing in some of the most resilient economies and high frequency indicators, pointing to further levelling in the period ahead, said the article authored by a team led by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra.
'Rate cut looks unlikely and there is reason to believe that the cycle is over.'
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said India's farm sector needs to grow by 3-4 per cent for the economy to sustain a high 8 per cent growth.
These changes certainly bring India's GST a lot closer to what an ideal GST would look like, points out Karan Bhasin.
The finance ministry on Thursday said the economy was poised to grow by 7 per cent this fiscal despite the delay in monsoon, but admitted that high global oil prices were a matter of concern.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lauds the armed forces' restrained response during Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam terror attack, highlighting coordination and improved connectivity in border areas.
Growth projections for 2013-14 has been arrived at by taking into account present internal and external factors.
China's economic growth fell to 7.6 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2012, from 8.1 percent in the first quarter, the slowest growth since first quarter of 2009.
