'Indian economy to grow by over 8.5%'

Chief Statistician of India T C A Anant said on Sunday the economy was likely to grow a little over the targeted 8.5 per cent this financial year on the back of robust agricultural output and industrial production.

"I am comfortable with 8.5 per cent, may be a little more. I think it is on target," Anant said here. The government has projected the economy to grow in the range of 8.5-8.75 per cent this financial year.

"I am optimistic that at the end of this year we will be able to surpass our gross domestic product growth forecast of 8.5-8.75 per cent, given in the Economic Survey," Mukherjee had said.

Anant echoed the finance minister's optimism. "At the moment, I think it is a perfectly good statement to make. The first quarter estimates of 8.8 per cent are comfortably consistent with the target," he said.

The chief statistician said the expectation was that the monsoon would be good.

"So, agriculture production would be above that last year. Also, the industry production figures have been sound and indicate that the second quarter number could well turn out to be good. So, all of this put together, the optimism is justified," he added.

The Indian economy grew by 7.4 per cent in 2009-10, while the agriculture sector registered a growth of 0.2 per cent.

Further, industrial growth accelerated to 13.8 per cent in July from 7.2 per cent in the corresponding month last year, on the back robust capital goods production.

Industrial growth for the first four months of this financial year stood at 11.4 per cent, compared to 4.7 per cent a year ago.

Following the global financial crisis, the GDP growth had moderated to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09, after recording a growth rate of 9 per cent in the three preceding years.