Winning Bizness Economic Desk

India’s Q2 FY 26 GDP Growth at Six-Quarter High of 8.2 pc

The country’s GDP expanded at a mind-boggling 8.2 per cent in the second-quarter (Q2) of this financial year (FY 26)—the highest in six quarters.

This robust growth was fuelled by a strong growth in both, the manufacturing and services sectors.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the last time the country’s GDP clocked such a steep climb was in the quarter ended March of last year (2024).

The 8.2 per cent expansion in Q2 is a massive jump as compared to the 5.6 per cent growth in the year-ago period. Notably, this growth is even higher than the 7.8 per cent growth clocked in Q1 of this fiscal (April 1, 2025-to-June 30, 2025).

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi observed on X that “it (the high GDP growth) reflects the impact of our pro-growth policies and reforms. It also reflects the hard work and enterprise of our people. Our government will continue to advance reforms and strengthen ease of living for every citizen.”

The manufacturing sector’s growth zoomed to a six-quarter high of 9.1 per cent in Q2 FY 26 from a much lower 7.7 per cent in the previous quarter (Q1 FY 26).

The aggregate services sector grew at a very healthy 9.2 per cent in Q2 FY 26 as against a 7.2 growth per cent in the year-ago period. The financial services, real estate and professional services sub-sector also registered a very healthy 10.2 per cent growth which is a nine-quarter high.

Another important sector—agriculture—grew at 3.5 per cent, a decline from the 4.1 per cent in Q2 of the last fiscal and 3.7 per cent in Q1 of this year.

Crisil Ups India’s GDP Growth Forecast for FY 26 to 7 pc

Crisil has upped its GDP growth forecast for the country to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent for this fiscal. This move follows the higher-than-expected GDP growth in Q2 of this fiscal at 8.2 per cent and in the first-half of this fiscal at 8 per cent.

According to the well-known ratings agency, the steep northward movement in GDP growth rate was primarily propelled by private consumption.

An important point that needs highlighting here is that food inflation is low and this enabled discretionary spending on the part of families in the country which, in turn, strongly fuelled consumption.

There was also a healthy growth in manufacturing and services sectors. Additionally, the rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates also played a big role in significantly boosting private consumption.

Gold Reserves Decrease, Pulling Down India’s Forex Reserves by USD 4.47-bn

The country’s foreign exchange reserves slid southward by USD 4.47-billion to USD 688-billion in the week ended November 21.

This fall in the foreign exchange reserves was because of a decrease in gold reserves, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

Gold reserves declined by USD 2.6-billion during the reporting week.

The Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs) also slipped by USD 1.6-billion to USD 560-billion during the reporting week.

Here, it is important to note that the reserves had hit a record high of USD 705-billion in September 2024.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) too were down USD 84-million to USD 18.5-billion. India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by USD 23-million to USD 4.7-billion in the reporting week.

Luxury Home Segment Witnesses Huge Surge in Major Cities

India’s luxury real estate market is presently faring very well with luxury homes priced above Rs 1.5-crore registering a very steep increase in prices across the top seven cities in the country over the past three-years, Anarock Research said.

What needs highlighting here is that average prices in this segment have zoomed nearly 40 per cent with Delhi leading at 70 per cent.

“Prices of these homes in the top seven cities in 2022 averaged at around Rs 14,530 per sq ft,” Mr Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Group was quoted in a leading publication. He went on to say that “at this point in 2025, they have risen to approximately Rs 20,300 per sq ft.”

Delhi-NCR’s luxury segment registered the highest jump of 72 per cent in three-years—from around Rs 13,450 per sq ft in 2022 to around Rs 23,100 per sq ft presently.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) occupied the second highest position in this segment at 43 per cent followed by the southern city of Bangalore just marginally lower at 42 per cent.

An important reason for the strong momentum in the luxury housing segment is the increasing demand from high net-worth purchasers.

Additionally, factors such as an increase in up-scale projects by developers and evolving preferences for amenity-rich residences have also contributed to the price jump.

“Demand for luxury homes continues to outpace that in other segments because of the consistent appetite for bigger homes by branded developers in superior locations,” the publication quoted Mr Puri as saying.

According to Anarock’s data, out of the total sales of approximately 2.87-lakh units in the top seven cities in the nine-months of this year, close to 30 per cent were in luxury segment.

The affordable homes segment (below Rs 40-lakh) has witnessed a far more restrained growth at 26 per cent. Delhi-NCR and Telangana’s capital Hyderabad in the south continue to remain leaders in this segment.

An important point to note here is that homes in the mid-to-premium segment which come in the price range of Rs 40-lakh-to-Rs 1.5-crore have appreciated by 39 per cent. Leading the pack in this segment is Bangalore with a huge 62 per cent uptick.

PE, VC Investments up 8 pc in October, touch USD 5.3-bn

Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) investments in the country climbed 8 per cent on a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis in value terms in October of this year.

According to the monthly round-up from EY-IVCA, investments stood at USD 5.3-billion as compared to the USD 4.9-billion in the year-ago month.

Financial services attracted the highest investment at USD 2,290-million. It was followed by e-commerce at USD 715-million while technology came in third at USD 455-million.

What needs highlighting here is that the number of deals slid sharply to 102 from 112 deals in the corresponding period of last year.

In October this year, the report pointed to nine big deals totalling USD 3.7-billion with the largest being that of International Holding Company which acquired a 43.46 per cent in Sammaan Capital for USD 1-billion.

The report also highlighted that Private Investments in Public Equity (PIPE) accounted for the largest share of private equity/venture capital activity in October with USD 2.1-billion deployed, marking a tremendous 981 per cent increase YoY from the USD 195-million earlier.

PIPE is a way of raising capital for listed companies by selling shares to a select group of private investors.

Start-up investments took the second spot with USD 2-billion invested in comparison to the USD 884-million in the previous year, clocking a 175 per cent YoY climb.

There were 14 exits worth USD 640-million in October of this year as compared USD 1.1-billion across 10 exits last year. Open market exits totalled USD 234-million across three deals—they accounted for 37 per cent of the total exit value.

The largest exit during the month was that of Advent, which sold a two per cent stake in Aditya Birla Capital for USD 186-million.

On the fund-raising side, the total funds raised in October of this year stood at USD 1.8-billion as compared to USD 209-million in October of last year and USD 2.1-billion in September of this year.