9% GDP growth forecast in FY22

Mumbai: India's real gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to maintain a nine per cent growth rate in fiscal 2022 and 2023, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of Covid-19, says a report.

The Indian economy grew at 8.4 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against a growth of 20.1 per cent in the April-June quarter.

"We are maintaining our forecast of a nine per cent GDP expansion in FY2022, with a clear K-shaped divergence amongst the formal and informal parts of the economy, and the large gaining at the cost of the small. Looking ahead, we expect the economy to maintain a similar nine per cent growth in FY2023," domestic rating agency Icra Ltd Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said in the report.

She expects the percentage of double-vaccinated adults to rise to 85-90 per cent by March 2022. While the announcement of booster doses and vaccines for the 15-18 age group is welcome, it remains to be seen whether all the existing vaccines would offer adequate protection against the new Omicron variant to avert a third wave in India, Nayar said.