India's Q1 GDP growth -23.9% : The way forward
India saw the sharpest decline in the Q1 GDP growth since the quarterly figure started being published in 1996. The GDP downfall is exacerbated by COVID-19 but the slowing trend for past 3 years can't be ignored. If we break the GDP into its components from the production side, we have Agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors. The worst affected sector is the construction sector, seeing a decline of 50%, trade, hotels and other services(-27%), manufacturing(-39%), and mining (–23%) leading to a decline in income or job loss, in term reducing the purchasing power of an individual. Now let's look through another lens and break the GDP in terms of spending: Consumption, Investment, Government spending, Net export. India is a consumption-based economy and its growth is primarily driven by private consumption, which accounted for about 56% before this quarter, followed by investments, which accounted for 32%. So, GDP in terms of spending, GDP=C+I+G+Net Export. C=Private co...