Nov services activity rises, but at slower pace: Survey

livemint.com:

insurance, real estate, and business services. Experts pointed out that although growth moderated in November, some segments that have cooled should pick up in the coming months, lifting the overall growth of the sector. While “electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services" and construction had seen double-digit growth in the September quarter, trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting had seen a moderation in the July-September period, as per GDP data released on 30 November.

This segment is expected to pick up in coming months, said D.K. Srivastava, chief policy adviser, EY India, adding a GDP growth of 6% in the third quarter as forecast by the Reserve Bank of India seems realistic. “In the whole year, the economy is expected to grow at 6.5% (as projected by RBI) or cross it by a small margin," Srivastava said.

In the second quarter, India’s economy had grown at 7.6%. A notable growth story is in domestic air travel, with passenger traffic recording a near 27% growth in the April-October period. The main factor that comes in the way of economic growth is the external sector, Srivastava said.

S&P pointed out that cooling price pressures and demand resilience inducing sales growth aided activity in November. Rates of both input cost and output charge inflation slipped to eight-month lows, it said. There was softer expansion in new work intake and output, the slowest in a year, but they were nevertheless sharp and well above their respective long-run averages, S&P said.