India's Growth to be "north of 6.8%," says CEA V Anantha Nageswaran, citing improved economic momentum

New Delhi [India], November 7 (ANI): Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), V Anantha Nageswaran, on Friday said that India's economic growth is expected to be "north of six and a half," adding that he is "more comfortable saying, even north of 6.8 per cent."

Speaking about the evolving economic outlook Nageswaran recalled that earlier projections had placed growth in the 6.3 per cent to 6.8 per cent range, with concerns in August about whether the economy would even reach the lower end of that band.

"Now, I think there is a lot of comfort in saying it will definitely be to the north of six and a half, and I am more comfortable saying even north of 6.8 per cent," Nageswaran said during a panel discussion at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit 2025.

However, the CEA cautioned that it was still too early to revise estimates beyond the 6.8 per cent mark.

"Whether I will put a seven-handle in front of it, I'll wait for the second-quarter numbers to come out before I move even a notch higher," he noted.

India's growth rate for the fiscal year 2025-26 is projected to be around 6.6 per cent by the IMF, driven by a strong first quarter where real GDP grew by 7.8 per cent.

The service sector was the primary driver, expanding by 9.3 per cent, followed by manufacturing at 7.7 per cent.

Nageswaran further added that a resolution on global trade issues could further boost India's growth prospects.

"In fact, by some chance, as we are still hoping there is a resolution on the trade front and upward buyers will become a mainstream forecast." he said, signaling optimism about the country's economic resilience amid a challenging global environment.

In the same panel discussion on trends of private capex in the last few years, Anish Shah, Group CEO and Managing Director of M&M Ltd stated the reforms undertaken by the government will result in greater investments across the private sector.

"The reforms that we've seen and that we are seeing, the commitment to reforms, the physical and digital infrastructure, all of these are very strong foundation elements. The recent GST cut was a huge one in changing the sentiment. And that change in sentiment is what we are seeing in translating to some of the numbers that you read out as well. And that will result in greater investments across the private sector," Shah added.

Supporting Shah, CEA added, "There was a disappointment in 2023-24, but whatever data we have until now from listed and unlisted companies in the private sector 2024-25, was a very good year for private capex."

Anant Maheshwari, President and CEO at Honeywell said, "So there may be short-term moves around the FDIs or the FDI, but in general, if you ask any CEO globally, India is a bright spot," noting that the India has emerged as a risk insulate place. (ANI)