India outpaces China in 2015 economic growth
India's economy grew at an average rate of 7.5 percent in 2015, faster than the 6.9 percent growth in China, official figures show.
India's government said GDP growth in October to December was 7.3 percent a slight drop on previous quarters which were revised sharply higher.
Even though the economy lost steam in the last quarter, its pace of expansion was faster than the growth posted by China in the same quarter.
India measures the economy over a fiscal rather than a calendar year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government said growth for the fiscal year ending March 2016 is forecast to accelerate to 7.6 percent.
'COUNTERINTUITIVE'
However, some economists say the latest growth figures are at odds with other data for Asia's third largest economy, including weak exports, railway freight, cement production and investment and flat order books.
Ritika Mankar, an economist at Ambit Capital, said: "The new GDP series and the information it is conveying, not just in terms of level but also in terms of the direction, seems counterintuitive."
Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank in Mumbai, said the figures were "difficult to correlate" with other data, including a contraction in agriculture.
A year ago India's statistics ministry revised GDP growth rates higher - closer to that of China - by updating the base year used for price comparisons.
Comments