Industry chamber PHDCCI on Sunday said it expects strong GDP growth in the coming quarters with the economic recovery gaining momentum. Out of the 12 lead economic and business indicators of QET (Quick Economic Trends), tracked by the industry body, nine have shown an uptick in the sequential growth for the month of September 2021 as compared to six showing the uptrend in August 2021.

“The uptrend in the lead economic and business indicators in the recent months shows that the economic recovery is catching pace and strong economic growth is expected in the coming quarters,” said Pradeep Multani, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).

However, he suggested, at this juncture, there is a need to address the high commodity prices and shortages of raw materials to support the consumption and private investments in the country.

GST collections, stock market, UPI transactions, exports, exchange rate, forex reserves, CPI inflation, WPI inflation and unemployment rate have registered positive sequential growth in September 2021 as compared to August 2021, PHDCCI stated.

Besides, the unemployment scenario improved to 6.9 per cent in September 2021 from 8.3 per cent in the previous month.

“Stock Market (SENSEX -average of daily close) have recorded the sequential growth of 6.4 per cent from 55,238 in August 2021 to 58,781 in September 2021. GST collections registered the sequential growth of 4.5 per cent from Rs 1,12,020 crore in August 2021 to Rs 1,17,010 crore in September 2021,” PHDCCI said.

Supply-side issues such as high input prices, shortages of raw materials, among others are impacting the production possibilities and reducing the price-cost margins of the businesses, said Multani.

He observed that the drivers of household consumption need to be further strengthened to enhance the aggregate demand as it will have an accelerated effect on the expansion of capital investments.

India’s economy grew by 20.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2021-22, helped by a low base of the year-ago period, according to the official data released in August.