Bhubaneswar : Sticking to 7.2% GDP growth rate in FY 2025, RBI governor Saktikanta Das Saturday said India’s growth story is intact. He was speakin at the inaugural function of the National CA Conference 2024, organised here by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI).

Das said Q1 growth rate has been reported 6.7% as against RBI’s 7.1%. But, given the growth of growth engines like industries and the private consumption which is above 7%, the growth is certainly to come in the remaining three quarters. According to him, the sluggish public expenditure which was because of the Lok Sabha election during the Q1 pulled down the the growth. The government expenditure both by the Centre as well as the States has reported a (-) 0.2% growth during the quarter.

The RBI governor said the public expenditure expected to pick up in the remaing three quarters of the fiscal. He said the growth of agriculture sector, which is 2% in first quarter is also likely to go up as the monsoon across the country is quite normal.

The inaugural function was also addressed by GAIL CMD Sandeep Kumar Gupta,ICAI president Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal , ICAI Odisha Chapter chairperson Janhabi Deo, and chairman, conference hosting committee, Prasant Panda.