Wednesday, November 30 2005 14:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Exceeding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's expectations of a 7.5 per cent growth, Indian economy registered a strong 8.0 per cent growth in the second successive quarter of the current fiscal, overcoming the lacklustre performance of agriculture and mining sectors.

The 8.0 per cent GDP growth during July-September 2005-06 is higher than the 6.7 per cent growth in the corresponding period last fiscal. The second quarter growth was slightly lower than the 8.1 per cent growth in first quarter.

During April-September this fiscal, the economy grew by an impressive 8.1 per cent, compared to 7.1 per cent in the first half of the last fiscal.

The strong performance exceeds the projections of economic think tanks and even the Prime Minister, who had yesterday (Nov 29, 2005) predicted a 7.5 per cent growth for this fiscal.

The farm sector witnessed a 2.0 per cent growth during the second quarter of 2005-06 compared to zero growth during the year-ago period, according to the figures released by Central Statistical Organisation today.

Manufacturing sector logged a slightly lower 9.2 per cent growth during the second quarter compared to 9.6 per cent during the year-ago period.

Among the services, the highest growth of 12.0 per cent was observed in trade, hotels, transport and communication during the second quarter of 2005-06, compared to 12.3 per cent during the same period last fiscal.

Financing, insurance, real estate and business services grew by 9.9 per cent in the second quarter this fiscal from 5.5 per cent in the year-ago period.