The Indian economy grew by 7.8% in the first quarter (April-June) of the financial year 2025-’26, government data showed on Friday.
This marked the highest growth rate in five quarters. The gross domestic product, or GDP, growth rate for the same three-month period last year was 6.5%.
In the fourth quarter (January-March) of the last financial year, India’s economic growth stood at 7.4%. The GDP growth for the full financial year 2024-’25 was 6.5%, which was the slowest growth rate since the Covid-19 pandemic year of 2020-’21.
The growth rate in the first quarter of this financial year is above the Reserve Bank of India’s projected GDP growth of 6.5% for the first quarter. On August 6, the central bank estimated GDP growth projection for the entire financial year 2025-’26 also at 6.5%.
The higher-than-expected figures in the first quarter of the year were driven by a high growth in the agriculture sector, showed government data. The agricultural sector grew by 3.7%, which was more than double the 1.5% growth in the same period of the last financial year.
India remains the world’s fastest growing large economy, with China’s growth in the same quarter being recorded at 5.2%, PTI reported.
The pick-up in growth rate in India’s economy comes at a time when the country is facing the impact of 50% punitive tariffs imposed by the United States on Indian goods that took effect on Wednesday.
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