The rate of GDP growth sank to a more than ten-year low of 4.2 per cent in 2019, down from 6.1 per cent the previous year. The pandemic bought a human and an economic catastrophe for India, with nearly 1.5 lakh deaths. Though the deaths per million are significantly lower than in Europe and the US, the economic impact had been much more severe. Rating agencies and analysts have raised their expectations of GDP growth in fiscal to March 2021 with RBI predicting a small positive growth in the January-March quarter. “This does not bode well for the industry at a time when domestic demand has not yet stabilised and external demand remains weak,” he said.

Source: Hindustan Times January 01, 2021 14:17 UTC