By Manoj Kumar and Nikunj Ohri
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s economy unexpectedly gathered steam in the April-June quarter, defying expectations of slower growth even as a sharp rise in U.S. tariffs on Indian imports threatens to weigh on business activity in coming quarters.
The United States doubled tariffs on Indian goods to as high as 50% on Wednesday over India’s continuing imports of Russian oil. That ushered in the most punishing rate among U.S. trading partners alongside Brazil and economists say the move could hurt exports including textiles, leather goods and chemicals.
Gross domestic product expanded 7.8% in the latest quarter in Asia’s third-largest economy, the fastest in five quarters, from 7.4% in the previous three-month period, government data showed on Friday.
This was well above the 6.7% expansion economists had forecast in a Reuters poll.
Gross value added (GVA), seen as a more accurate measure of underlying economic activity, grew 7.6% in the three months to June, from 6.8% in the previous quarter. GVA excludes indirect taxes and government subsidy payouts, which tend to be volatile.
At this pace, India remains one of the fastest-growing major economies, despite an increasingly cloudy export outlook after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hike.
The “surprise acceleration” in GDP growth in the April-June quarter means that “the economy is still on course to expand by a world-beating 7% this year, despite the upcoming hit from punitive US tariffs”, Capital Economics said in a note.
“Despite the reciprocal penal tariff, we are maintaining our growth range (of 6.3%-6.8%) for full year,” India’s Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said at a press conference after the data release.
CONSUMER SPENDING RISES
Private consumer spending, which makes up about 57% of GDP, rose 7.0% year-on-year in April-June, compared with 6% in the previous quarter, as rural spending increased, and demand for durables and farm equipment such as tractors remained firm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has pledged support for sectors hit by U.S. tariffs and has said it would propose tax cuts to spur domestic demand. It had earlier cut income taxes starting April this year.
“Private consumption is supported by tax relief, rate cuts, crops sowing, though households may defer discretionary purchases until proposed consumption tax cuts take effect in the festive season,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA ratings agency.
Government spending rose 7.4% in the three months through June compared to a fall of 1.8% in the previous quarter, the data showed.
