India's economy is likely to expand over 8.5% in the March quarter, the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu said today.
Given the mammoth jump in Industrial output (IIP) figures today, the government official's forecast could well be a reality. Industrial output (IIP) for the month of January grew 16.7% as against a meager 1% in January last year.
The manufacturing sector grew to 17.9% versus 1% on year-on-year basis, while growth of the mining sector was recorded at 14.6% as against 0.7% in the corresponding month of 2009. The electricity sector too grew at 5.6% in January 2010 versus 1.8% a year ago.
Speaking on the IIP numbers, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "Two straight months of high IIP growth are encouraging."
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that India is well-set to go back to 8.5% growth in the next fiscal year. He added that he expected foreign fund inflows to continue to be good.
