The manufacturing sector contracted by 1.2 per cent in the first quarter, a reflection of overall slowdown in the economy. The mining sector, which has been facing regulatory hurdles in many states also contracted by 2.8 per cent. Agriculture sector grew by 2.7 per cent in the first quarter against 2.9 per cent in the same quarter last year. The services sector overall grew by 6.2 per cent, pulling the overall growth.
“There has been complete collapse of private consumption and investment has also been weak. The second quarter is also expected to remain weak,” said D.K. Joshi, chief economist at ratings and research firm Crisil. However, he said that growth will pick up in the second half of the fiscal year as agriculture growth is expected to be strong due to good monsoon. “We expect the GDP growth to come at 4.6 per cent in 2013-14 as we see the battering in the GDP to continue for few more quarters,” said Indranil Pan, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The growth rate in the fourth quarter ending on March 31 had come at 4.8 per cent against 4.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2012-13.