India's economy turns positive, grows 0.4% in Oct-Dec quarter

India's economy grew 0.4% year-on-year in the October-December quarter, returning to growth after shrinking for two straight quarters, government data showed on Friday.

The readout for the December quarter was a tad lower than the 0.5% growth forecast of analysts in a Reuters poll. The infrastructure output rose 0.1% in January from a year earlier, government data showed.

Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal, crude oil, and electricity and accounts for nearly 40% of industrial output, fell by 8.8% in the 10 months through January from a year earlier, the data showed.

In the July-September quarter, India's GDP contracted 7.5% year-on-year. The economy shrank 23.9% year-on-year in the April-June quarter in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and nationwide lockdown to prevent the virus.

The GDP is expected to return to expansion territory in the October-December quarter, growing by 0.8 percent year-on-year (YoY), multinational bank Barclays had said earlier.