Aided by strong show in manufacturing and services sectors, the Indian economy grew 8 per cent in 2009-10, higher than the 7.4 per cent growth estimated earlier, the Central Statistical office (CSO) said.

“The growth rate of 8 per cent in the GDP during 2009-10 has been achieved due to high growth in manufacturing (8.8 per cent), financing, insurance, real estate and business services (9.2 per cent), transport, storage and communication (15 per cent), community, social and personal services (11.8 per cent),” the CSO said in a statement here on Monday.

The higher-than-estimated expansion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shows that India has been recovering fast from the global financial meltdown that struck in mid-2008. The economic recovery came on the back of both monetary and fiscal stimulus provided by the central bank and the Government respectively to minimise the adverse effect of the global economic downturn on the Indian economy.

The total fiscal stimulus provided by the Government over three phases amounted to 3 per cent of the GDP.

Agriculture sector growth recorded 0.4 per cent growth in 2009-10 after witnessing a 0.1 per cent decline in 2008-09, the latest data showed. Manufacturing, which bore the brunt of the global economic slowdown, has registered 8.8 per cent growth in 2009-10 against over 3 per cent in the previous year.

For the current fiscal, the Government expects the GDP growth to be about 8.75 per cent. In the first half of 2010-11, the Indian economy grew 8.9 per cent.

Per capita income up 14%

Meanwhile, the CSO said that the country's per capita income grew by 14.5 per cent to Rs 46,492 in 2009-10 from Rs 40,605 in the year-ago period. The new per capita income figure estimates on current market prices is over Rs 2,000 more than the previous estimate of Rs 44,345.

The CSO has also revised upwards the GDP growth estimate for 2008-09 to 6.8 per cent from the previous estimate of 6.7 per cent.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

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