Union minister Prakash Javadekar said that the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic-hit economy is coming back on rails at ‘more speed than expected’. He also said that an increase in rail freight collection, higher goods and services tax mop-up, rise in power demand and improved FDI inflows indicate that the economy was doing better in the second quarter of the current financial year (Q2FY21).
The minister said that the increase in power demand was despite lesser consumption by the agriculture sector due to good rains and railways, which is not yet fully operational. He said despite these two facts, 12 percent increase in power indicates a complete return to normalcy in the production sector.
India's economy has suffered its worst slump on record in April-June quarter of current fiscal year (Q1FY21), with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 23.9% as the coronavirus-related lockdowns weighed on the already-declining consumer demand and investment. The RBI too has projected a contraction of 9.5 per cent in the current fiscal.