MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's economy grew 6.1 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, slowing from a provisional 7.0 percent in the previous quarter, government data showed on Wednesday.
That was much lower than the forecasts for annual growth of 7.1 percent in the January-March quarter reflected in a Reuters poll.
Growth for the year ending in March came in at 7.1 percent, in line with the official estimate.
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GAURAV DUA, HEAD OF RESEARCH, SHAREKHAN
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"The current GDP rate is much closer to ground reality, and it is likely to soften the Reserve Bank's hawkish stance on growth. Hence, I do not expect a rate hike by the RBI anytime soon. Neither do I see a rate cut in the next few months.
"The implementation of GST (goods and services tax) could have a short-term impact, which will reflect on the overall full-year GDP growth, but that is because of the rollout of GST and not because of the tax slabs."
VARUN KHANDELWAL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BULLERO CAPITAL
"Q4 GDP number was a bit disappointing.
"Since listed companies have reported a slowdown in their earnings for Q3 and Q4, I expect the data to be revised downwards.
"The most significant imbalance in India's growth story is the paucity of job creation. The demographic 'dividend' is slowly turning into a 'tax' as more young people enter the workforce, while the pace of job creation is meagre.
"It is critical that policy makers focus on a more equitable distribution of growth for the long-term socio-political stability of the country."
(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair; Compiled by Rafael Nam)