New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) India's economy grew by 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020-21, restricting the full-year contraction to 7.3 per cent, official data showed on Monday.

The fourth quarter growth was better than the 0.5 per cent expansion in the previous October-December quarter of 2020-21.

The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 3 per cent in the corresponding January-March period of 2019-20, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

In 2020-21, the Indian economy contracted by 7.3 per cent against 4 per cent expansion in 2019-20, showing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NSO had projected a GDP contraction of 7.7 per cent in 2020-21 in its first advance estimates of national accounts released in January this year.

The NSO, in its second revised estimates, had projected a contraction of 8 per cent for 2020-21.

China has recorded a 18.3 per cent growth in January-March 2021.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)