New Delhi: According to official statistics released on Monday, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 1.6% in the March quarter of FY21, but contracted 7.3% in the full financial year.
The GDP numbers released by the NSO on Monday, reflect the delicate state of the nation’s economy and are all the more glaring since the Centre had begun the ‘Unlock’ process from July 2020 onwards after imposing a nation-wide lockdown in March 2020, which had lasted till June 2020.
“Real GDP or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at Constant (2011-12) Prices in the year 2020-21 is now estimated to attain a level of ₹ 135.13 lakh crore, as against the First Revised Estimate of GDP for the year 2019-20 of ₹ 145.69 lakh crore, released on 29th January 2021. The growth in GDP during 2020-21 is estimated at -7.3 per cent as compared to 4.0 per cent in 2019-20,” the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation said in a press release.
During the first quarter of 2020-21, India’s GDP had shrunk by 24.38 per cent, hit mainly by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Monday evening released the GDP numbers for the January-March quarter and financial year 2020-21. Indian economy contracted during the first half of FY21 affected by the pandemic, before returning to positive territory in the October-December quarter with a growth of 0.4 per cent. In April-June, the economy had shrunk by 24.38 per cent, which improved to a 7.5 per cent contraction in July-September.