Two years after Covid, Indian economy hopping from one crisis to another

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Indian shores in early 2020, the Indian economy was already in a downward spiral, with growth rate slumping to an 11-year low of 3.1 per cent in the March quarter of FY20. The rapidly surging Covid-19 cases forced the government to impose a nationwide lockdown which resulted in India’s first recession in FY21 (at -6.6 per cent) after a gap of 40 years.
 

While the economy was mending its way up, the second wave beginning March 2021 led to loss of many more lives and further deceleration of growth momentum. However, high-frequency data indicates that