Te`c~h f%re@k

The economic upturn appears to have truly begun. The latest government data showed the economy growing by 6.1% year-on-year
during the first quarter (April-June) of the fiscal the fastest for any quarter since the global financial crisis began almost a year ago making officials expect 6.5% growth this year.

This growth rate means India remains the second-fastest growing major economy after China, which notched almost an 8% growth rate.

If there's a shadow of cloud accompanying this brightening sky it's the uncertainty about whether the economy can maintain this momentum in the next quarter (and perhaps the one after that) when the agriculture sector got hit by a poor monsoon.

The services sector, which accounts for more than 57% of the economy's output, grew an annual 7.8% in the first quarter, against 10.2% in the year-ago period. Manufacturing output expanded 3.4% in the June quarter, while farm output was up 2.4%.

The worst-hit sectors were trade, hotels, transport & communication. Together, these sectors posted 8.1% growth in the first quarter this fiscal compared to 13% a year ago. Manufacturing was down to 3.4% against 5.5% and agriculture to 2.4% versus 3%.

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