Q1 GDP growth to set tone for economic revival in coming quarters, says Niti Aayog VC

India's growth rebound in the first quarter of this fiscal will be the foundation of sustained expansion in successive quarters, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Tuesday, adding that the country's GDP growth estimates may get revised upwards in the coming weeks.

"Economic growth in the April-June quarter of 2021-22 (Q1) has come in at 20.1 percent, which is at the upper end of all estimates, making the apparent consensus redundant. This rebound in Q1 will be the foundation of sustained growth in successive quarters," Kumar tweeted.

"With the Chief Scientist of the @WHO, Ms. Swaminathan, postulating a weakness in COVID-19 going forward, we could see GDP growth estimates being revised upwards in the coming weeks. The government's focus on ramping up capital expenditure has set desired results," he added.

The gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 24.4 per cent in the corresponding April-June quarter of 2020-21, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Tuesday.

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The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

This year, the massive second wave of the pandemic hit the country in the middle of April, which forced states to impose fresh restrictions.

However, the economy has still not returned to the pre-COVID level.

In value terms, the GDP stood at Rs 32,38,020 crore in April-June 2021-22, lower than Rs 35,66,708 crore in the corresponding period of the 2019-20 financial year.

The GDP had shrunk to Rs 26,95,421 crore in April-June last year during the nationwide lockdown.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered the country's growth projection for the current financial year to 9.5 percent from 10.5 percent estimated earlier, while the World Bank has estimated India's GDP growth at 8.3 percent in 2021.