"Taking into account the trend of the last two quarters, I expect the GDP growth to be 7.3 per cent (in 2011-12)," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.
The economy grew by 8.5 per cent last financial year.
On the back of the tight monetary policy followed by the Reserve Bank to tame inflation, the growth rate in the manufacturing sector nosedived to 2.7 per cent in the July-September quarter from 7.8 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.
Mining and quarrying sector output declined by 2.
9 per cent, compared to a growth of 8 per cent in the second quarter of 2010-11. Agriculture production slipped to 3.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal year.
GDP growth in the second quarter last fis