INDIA’S REAL Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth slumped to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent in July-September 2024 pulled down by “sluggish growth” in manufacturing and a deceleration in mining and quarrying, data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday showed.

The 5.4 per cent growth rate in Q2 is lower than 6.7 per cent in the April-June quarter and 8.1 per cent in July-September 2023. It is at least a percentage point lower than the consensus estimate arrived at through a poll of economists.

Several factors added up to what Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran described as a “disappointing but not alarming” lower growth rate in Q2. Going forward, he said, doubling down on deregulation, expanding state capacity for public investment, and improving hiring and compensation policies in the private sector, will improve growth prospects and turn the second quarter numbers into a fading memory.

Bulk of the slowdown has been predominantly due to the manufacturing sector.