India records bumper economic growth as election draws to a close

India’s economy grew by over 8% in the fiscal year to March 31, giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi a boost just hours before national elections draw to a close.

India’s economy grew by more than 8% in the fiscal year that ended in March, according to data published Friday that gives a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi just hours before the country concludes its mammoth, weeks-long national election. Gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 8.2%, according to the Statistics Ministry, cementing India’s status as the world’s fastest growing major economy. The rate of growth was higher than the Modi government’s forecast of 7.6%. For the final quarter of the fiscal year, GDP expanded at a faster-than-expected rate of 7.8%, compared with the same period in 2023. GDP had risen by 8.6% in the October-December period. “We expect economic activity to moderate a bit further over the coming quarters, but India will remain a global outperformer,” said Ankita Amajuri, assistant economist at Capital Economics. There’s less than 24 hours to go before polls close in the election. Modi is running on his economic record over the past 10 years, a period of robust growth for India. The country went from the ninth largest economy in the world to the fifth largest during that time. It also experienced the largest percentage growth in GDP over the decade compared to other major economies.