Indian eco may grow at 7% in FY09-10: PMEAC

On the back of robust economic growth at about 8 per cent in the second quarter of the fiscal, the Prime Minister's economic panel today said the economy is likely to grow by 7 per cent in the current fiscal.

"We had earlier estimated it (growth) at 6.5 per cent but probably it will be higher than that...It could be 7 per cent," Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar.

Asked when the Council would revise its growth projection for the country, he said, "We brought out the outlook only in October. So we probably will do it in January."

The economy clocked a growth of 6.7 per cent in 2008-09, an year when the financial downturn had set in, impacting India as it was other countries.

However, belying predictions, the Indian economy grew by a significant 7.9 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal, up from 6.1 per cent in the previous quarter, essentially due to a good showing by the industry and the services sector.

Rangarajan, while commenting on the high growth in the second quarter, had said overall growth figure may have to be revised upward.