India’s economic recovery remains on track

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India’s economic recovery remained on track in August with goods and services tax (GST) collections staying in excess of ₹1 lakh crore while automakers sold more cars than in the year earlier despite a semiconductor and parts shortage.

Petrol and diesel demand increased 14% and 16%, respectively, the railways carried 16.9% more freight and electricity demand rose 18.6%, suggesting greater movement of goods and people in the just-concluded month.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions increased 9.6% to 3.55 billion from July, data released by the National Payments Corporation of India on Wednesday showed, indicating greater adoption and more economic activity.

However, factory activity moderated slightly with the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) declining to 52.3 from 55.3 in July.

“Looking ahead, high-frequency data suggest that a swift recovery from the second-wave lows is already underway, which supports a sequential rebound in Q3,” Nomura said in a note on Wednesday.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 20.1% in the June quarter, helped by the low base of last year, data released on Tuesday showed. (The Economic Times)