A slower GDP growth, along with <g data-gr-id="57">slower</g> pace of industrial production expansion, <g data-gr-id="42">however</g> bolsters the case for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank.
The Gross Value Added (GVA), a new concept introduced by CSO to measure the economic activity, also slipped during the first quarter to 7.1 <g data-gr-id="38">per cent</g>, from 7.4 <g data-gr-id="39">per cent</g> a year ago.
The GDP grew at 7.5 <g data-gr-id="44">per cent</g> in the January-March quarter while it was 6.7 <g data-gr-id="45">per cent</g> in the April-June quarter last year, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The nominal GDP and GVA at current market price showed a steep decline in the quarter under review. The nominal GDP slipped to 8.8 per cent in Q1 from 13.4 <g data-gr-id="47">per cent</g> a year ago while the GVA growth rate nearly halved to 7.1 per cent from 14 per cent a year ago.
The government towards the beginning of the fiscal has projected a growth rate of 8.1-8.5 <g data-gr-id="34">per cent</g> in the current fiscal, which may be difficult to achieve.
RBI, which has cut interest rate by 0.75 <g data-gr-id="40">per cent</g> in three tranches since January, is scheduled to announce the next bi-monthly policy on September 29.
The data showed that the manufacturing sector GVA at constant prices (2011-12) rose 7.2 <g data-gr-id="43">per cent</g> in the April-June quarter as against 8.4 per cent in the year-ago period.
Similarly, the growth in the output of electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services decelerated sharply to 3.2 per cent as against 10.1 per cent a year earlier.
The farm and allied sectors grew at 1.9 <g data-gr-id="36">per cent</g>, down from 2.6 <g data-gr-id="37">per cent</g> in the previous year.
The output of mining and quarrying sector too slipped marginally to 4 <g data-gr-id="30">per cent</g>, from 4.3 <g data-gr-id="31">per cent</g> a year ago.
Financial, real estate and professional services growth shrank to 8.9 per cent as against 9.3 per cent a year earlier.
However, the construction activity registered an increase of 6.9 <g data-gr-id="28">per cent</g>, up from 6.5 <g data-gr-id="29">per cent</g> in the previous year.