NEW DELHI: Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday mocked the Centre over the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, a day after it was released by the government. As per the data, the GDP at constant prices (2011-12) had grown at 6.3 per cent in the July-September quarter of the last fiscal.
However, the Congress veteran said it did not warrant any jubilation by the ruling party. In a series of tweets, the former finance minister said that as expected, the GDP growth in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2018-19 was a good one per cent lower than in the April-June quarter (Q1).
“Q1 number was on a very low base in the previous year. It did not signify a bump in growth and did not warrant the jubilation of the BJP three months ago,” he said.
Chidambaram said going forward, it was likely that the October-December (Q3) and January-March (Q4) quarters would register similar growth rates unless there were unexpected shocks. “The new normal for the Indian economy is 7 per cent and 2018-19 will be a normal year,” he said.
Attacking the Centre, he said: “More large companies are bankrupt today than ever before, more projects stranded than ever before, more accounts turned NPA than ever before, more banks have been restrained from lending than ever before. There is a sense of crisis everywhere.”
He also said that the government has failed it its promise to achieve a double-digit growth rate. “This government promised a double-digit growth rate. They have not achieved double-digit growth rate in any of the four years. And they will not achieve it in the last year also,” he said.
India’s economy grew at 7.1 per cent in the July-September quarter, lowest in three quarters, but still remained ahead of China to retain the tag of the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
The size of the GDP in the second quarter of 2018-19 is estimated at Rs 33.98 lakh crore, as against Rs 31.72 lakh crore a year ago, showing a growth rate of 7.1 per cent, according to a statement of the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The Indian economy grew at 8.2 per cent in the April-June quarter of this fiscal. The GDP growth was 7.7 per cent in the January-March quarter.
