JOIN USIndia’s economic growth came down marginally to 7.2 per cent in 2014-15 from an earlier estimate of 7.3 per cent, but the country remained the fastest growing among major economies of the world.
The first revised estimates released by the government on Friday also revised the economic growth of 2013-14 downward to 6.6 per cent from the provisional estimates of 6.9 per cent released in May.
The sudden jump to 7.3 per cent came in when the government brought a new formula earlier this year that covered a raft of activities in all sectors which were not covered earlier. In terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), the growth rate stood at 7.1 per cent in 2014-15 as against 6.3 per cent in 2013-14, the national accounts data said Friday.
GVA is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in the economy. The GVA numbers, too, came into being with the new methodology last year.
The downward revision in GVA for 2014-15 is on account of subdued performance of secondary sector comprising manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services, and construction, the data showed.
The growth rate in the secondary sector was estimated at 5.4 per cent, down from earlier projection of 6.3 per cent. But the data showed, the growth rate in the primary sector – agriculture and allied activities – was revised upward at 1.3 per cent from the last estimates at 0.3 per cent.
Similarly, the growth rate in the services sector, too, was revised upwards to 10.3 per cent from the earlier 10.2 per cent. The per capita net national income at current prices was estimated as Rs 86,879 in 2014-15. In 2013-14, it was 79,412.
The gross savings during 2014-15 was estimated as Rs 41.17 lakh crore as against Rs 37.25 lakh crore during 2013-14. The highest contributor to the gross saving is the household sector, with a share of 57.8 per cent in the year 2014-15.
The economic growth numbers, however, are not of much relevance for the investors or the stock market because they are a year old.