ICRA Projects 7.8% GDP Growth For FY24

Domestic rating agency firm ICRA said on Tuesday that it expects India's GDP growth to be 7.8% for the financial year ending in March 2024.

The agency forecasts that GDP expansion will slow to 6.7% in the March quarter, down from 8.4% in the previous quarter. This is attributed to lower volume growth and reduced gains from commodity prices affecting the profitability of some industrial sectors, according to a statement by ICRA's Chief Economist, Aditi Nayar.

Nayar also mentioned that urban consumption is expected to have remained strong, though uneven, in the fourth quarter of the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The government is expected to announce the GDP data on May 31.

The statement noted that investment activity was healthy in the March quarter, showing a mixed trend in various investment-related indicators.

There was a significant increase in new project announcements, reaching the second-highest quarterly level, due to state investor meetings in January 2024 and a notable rise in the completion of both private and government-led projects, ICRA noted.

However, some investment-related indicators moderated in the March quarter compared to the third quarter, and there was a slowdown in new project proposals in February and March 2024 compared to January 2024, it said.