NEW DELHI: The country’s economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2019-20 slowed to 3.1 per cent as against a rise of 5.7 per cent in the same period last year. The output in eight core sectors is estimated to have contracted 38.1 per cent in April, suggesting much bleaker days ahead.
The growth during the full 2019-20 financial year was slow too.The GDP grew by 4.2 per cent as compared to 6.1 per cent in 2018-19 the slowest in 11 years. The slide in the GDP growth during the January-March quarter, a partially Covid-impacted period, was due to a crash in most core sector indicators, except coal, according to the National Statistical Office.
The drop was especially precipitated by a fall in cement production (- 4.9 per cent), steel (-3.9 per cent) and crude oil (- 5.7 per cent). The NSO said India would attain a per capita income of “Rs 94,954 during 2019-20 as against Rs 92,085 in 2018-19.”