Attributing the decline in second quarter GDP to slowdown in investment, the Plan panel today said the economy would rebound during January-March but the growth rate this fiscal would be 7-7.5%.
"My expectation is that it [GDP growth] may end up being about the same in third quarter [October-December] and perhaps in the fourth quarter it will improve. The growth rate is going to be between 7-7.5% this fiscal", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here.
The economy grew by 8.5% in FY11 and according to the Reserve Bank projection, the growth rate in the current fiscal would slow down to 7.6%.
India's economy grew by just 6.9% per cent in the July-September quarter this fiscal, compared to 8.4% in the same period last year, as per the data released here today by the government.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the first half (April-September) of FY12 has moderated to 7.3%, from 8.6% in the first six months of FY11.
Ahluwalia said, "We should definitely try for rebound in the next fiscal. The key to that rebound is getting investment back on track, particularly in infrastructure.
"We are not focusing on current year in the Planning Commission...It is a year of slow [down]...We know that."
On the poor performance of the mining sector, which declined by 2.9% during the quarter ending September, as against a growth of 8% in the July-September quarter of the previous fiscal, he said, "We are reviewing with Coal India, what could be done to improve production. I am sure something will come out of this."