Real GDP Of India Is Projected To Grow By 7% In FY10 - March 17, 2009

The real GDP of India is projected to grow by seven per cent in FY10, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its monthly review here. CMIE expects that the growth rate to soar slowly from around six per cent in the first-half to about eight per cent in the second-half of FY10. The global liquidity crisis has suddenly brought the economy''s growth of nine per cent to a grinding halt. However, FY10 would gradually recover from this jolt.

The Indian economy is likely to see quicker recovery in FY10 despite the global economy seems to be getting into a deep crisis. In the overall growth of the Indian economy, the agricultural sector has traditionally been the principal source of volatility. However, a decline in the GDP growth is usually due to fall in agricultural production. The agricultural sector in the last ten-year period ending 2005 reported a fall in output in every alternate year. CMIE pointed that this seriously debilitating trend seems to have been reversed. The agriculture sector has registered positive growth for four consecutive years - from FY 06 to FY 09. On the top of this, CMIE expects the sector to register a positive growth rate again in FY10. The CMIE report said, we expect the growth rate to slow down to 2.4 per cent. Nevertheless, a fifth consecutive year of positive growth in agriculture would contribute directly to the growth in FY10 and would have a positive impact on the domestic demand,".

The agriculture sector output in the third quarter of FY09 registered a fall of 2.2 per cent. "We believe that at least a part of the fall may get corrected with revisions in agriculture production data. This is likely to happen in the case of cotton and to a small extent in the case of rice."

Earnings Of Workers Dropped - March 13, 2009

In labour concentrated sectors, earning of workers dropped by 3.45 per cent a month during the third quarter of this fiscal due to worsening global economic crises, according to an official report.

Ministry of Labour and Employment said in its report after a survey of eight sectors, "The average earnings have declined at the rate of 3.45 per cent per month during the period of study (October-December 2008)." The eight sectors which surveyed, include textiles, mining, gems and jewellery, and automobiles

Average monthly earning went down by 11.43 per cent in November to Rs 15,259 and by 0.5 per cent to Rs 15,182 in the following month, the report said.

Growth In The Fourth Quarter To Be Much Better - March 2, 2009

Though the economy is struggling with the global economic slowdown but the Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath is still confident that the growth of the country would pick up momentum in the last two months of this fiscal. Nath said "I believe the worst is over," by adding that the last two months of this fiscal would be much better in terms of growth.

Nath also said that the government was aware of the sluggish growth in the economy during the quarter ended December and that''s why the stimulus packages was announced. "We were seized... We did not know the figures but certainly we were seized that there is a sharp decline, that is why we did announce a stimulus package," said Nath adding that the measures have started yielding results.

The economy of India grew 5.3% for the quarter ended December from a year earlier, slowing from 7.6% in the previous quarter. The annual growth of India''s fiscal third quarter was lower than upwardly revised 8.9% annual expansion in the same quarter a year ago. The farm output in the December quarter fell an annual 2.2% as compared to a rise of 2.7% in September quarter. The manufacturing slipped an annual 0.2% in December quarter as against a growth of 5% in the September quarter. The construction grew 6.7% in December quarter as compared to 9.7% September quarter. The trade, hotels, transport and communication advanced 6.8% in December quarter vs 10.7% in September. The financing, insurance, real estate and business services gained 9.5% in Oct-Dec vs 9.2% in July-September.

FDI May Fall Short Of Target: Survey - June 25, 2008

Global economic slowdown and spiralling inflation caused by increasing oil prices may adversely impact realisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) target of $35 billion in the current fiscal.This is the realistic assessment of FDI inflows by of 400 CEOs who felt that the FDI target is likely to fall short by $7-8 billion. They were taking part in a survey conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

Adverse sentiment in the stock markets, bottlenecks on infrastructure investments, government''s inability to sign nuclear deal are some of other reasons due to which the FDI target may fall short, the survey said. The chamber has asked the government to take sufficient measures to mount pressure from various bilateral and multilateral agencies on oil producing countries to increase oil production. In fact, recently Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has appealed the oil producing countries to increase its supply to control prices. He had advocated for a price band mechanism for crude oil for producers and consumers to find a common ground. The government had set a target of $30 billion in the last fiscal, but it received about $25 billion FDIs.