NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has estimated the April-June 2021 quarter’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at a record 20.1 per cent as compared to the GDP of the same quarter last year. The growth in Q1 FY22 has been measured against April-June 2020 quarter, a period when India was majorly hit by the first Coronavirus wave and the economy had shrunk by 24.4 per cent. 

"GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in Q1 FY22 is estimated at Rs 32.38 lakh crore against Rs 26.95 lakh crore in Q1 FY21, showing growth of 20.1 per cent compared to a contraction of 24.4 per cent in Q1 FY21," the ministry said on Tuesday. 

Quarterly Gross Value Added – GVA – (basic price) at constant (2011-12) prices for Q1 FY22 is estimated at Rs 30.48 lakh crore against Rs 25.66 lakh crore in Q1 FY21, thereby growing 18.8 per cent, the ministry added.

GDP at current prices in Q1 was Rs 51.23 lakh crore against Rs 38.89 lakh crore in Q1FY21, recording 31.7 per cent growth compared to a contraction of 22.3 per cent in Q1 FY21. GVA (basic price) at current prices stood 46.20 lakh crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 36.53 lakh crore in Q1 FY21, showing 26.5 per cent growth, the ministry said.

The GDP on a sequential basis, however, is lower as the fierce second COVID-19 wave ravaged India’s economy. Various financial institutions, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), had estimated the first-quarter GDP to grow at record double digits in the April-June 2021 quarter. 

Chief Economic Adviser K Subramanian said that India’s macroeconomic fundamentals were much stronger. "Q1 GDP reaffirms the V-shaped recovery of the Indian economy. India’s reforms will have a seminal impact on economic recovery gathering momentum," he added. 

The RBI’s GDP growth projection for the April-June 2021 quarter had stood at 21.4 per cent. 

SBI Research, in its latest Ecowrap report, had said that the GDP would grow at around 18.5 per cent with an upward bias in the first quarter of the current financial year. It expected the GVA to be at 15 per cent in Q1 FY22.

India’s economy had grown at 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021-21, recording a slight pick-up in GDP growth amid the COVID-19 second wave hitting the economy hard. 

In the full financial year of FY21, the economy had shrunk by (-) 7.3 per cent as the COVID-19 pandemic had thwarted business activities through a major part of the year. The contraction in FY21 GDP was worse in more than 40 years. 

On a YoY basis, the Indian economy had grown by 4.18 per cent in FY20, 6.12 per cent in FY19, 7.04 per cent in FY18, 8.26 per cent in FY17 and 8 per cent in FY16.