The slowdown of India’s gross domestic product rate in the July-September quarter was a “temporary blip” and the economy will see healthy growth in coming financial quarters, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

The real gross domestic product growth rate slumped to an 18-month low of 5.4% in the second quarter of the financial year 2024-’25.

Real gross domestic product is the total value of all goods and services produced by a country in a specific period, adjusted for inflation.

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Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Sitharaman said the July-September quarter was challenging for most economies of the world.

“A generalised slowdown in manufacturing is not expected, as it is restricted to few segments...out of 23 manufacturing sectors in the Index of Industrial Production, about half of them remain strong even now,” said the finance minister.

The Index of Industrial Production measures the relative change in the physical production of industries over a period of time.

Sitharaman also said that the Union government’s capital expenditure had grown by 6.4% between July and October.

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Capital expenditure is the money that the government spend on building new infrastructure such as roads. It is usually an indicator of increased economic activity.

“I think steps that we are taking to push for growth and to sustain growth are going to this route of capital expenditure so that the multiplier effect will spread through the economy and therefore give a greater traction,” stated the finance minister.

She also said that the Centre was committed to lowering food inflation.

India’s Wholesale Price Index-based inflation eased to a three-month low of 1.8% in November. The food price inflation decelerated to 8.9% in November from a 25-month high of 11.6% in October.

After the slowdown in the second quarter, the Reserve Bank of India lowered India’s gross domestic product estimates for the financial year 2024-’25 from 7.2% to 6.6%.