India quarterly GDP grows 7.9 pct from 2008

NEW DELHI: India's economy grew by a much faster than expected 7.9 percent in the three months to September from a year earlier, pointing to the country's emergence from the global financial crisis.

Manufacturing surged by 9.2 percent while social spending on roads and other projects climbed by 12.7 percent, reflecting big outlays by the government to shield the economy from the international slump, the official data showed.

The expansion, spurred by government stimulus packages and aggressive monetary easing that has made loans cheaper, was up from 6.1 percent in the previous quarter and beat forecasts.

Analysts had been expecting growth of around 6.3 percent for the quarter, according to a poll by Dow Jones Newswires.

Asia's third-largest economy grew by 7.7 percent in the July-September quarter a year earlier.

The latest data comes as the Asian region as a whole has seen strong growth as it emerges from the worldwide slump.