Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday backed India’s growth prospects despite the hiccup in the first quarter of this fiscal.

“Notwithstanding the moderation in growth from the previous quarter and below our projection for Q1, the data shows that the fundamental growth drivers are gaining momentum. This gives us confidence to say that the Indian growth story remains intact,” Das said.

He was delivering the inaugural speech at the annual FIBAC 2024 conference organised by Ficci and the Indian Banks’ Association here.

India’s real GDP growth moderated to 6.7 per cent in the April-June quarter, which was below the RBI’s projection of 7.1 per cent. The central bank has forecast the Indian economy to grow at 7.2 per cent for 2024-25.

Due to the lower growth in the first quarter, some economists trimmed their estimates for the full year.

Das said private consumption, which is the mainstay of aggregate demand with a share of around 56 per cent in GDP, has rebounded to 7.4 per cent growth from a poor 4 per cent growth in the second half of the previous year.

The other important driver of growth —investment — which accounts for around 35 per cent of GDP — grew at 7.5 per cent, keeping up with its recent momentum.

“Thus, more than 90 per cent of GDP expanded at a robust pace and materially above 7 per cent. The headline number, however, came lower against the backdrop of muted government expenditure of both the Centre and the states, perhaps due to the Lok Sabha elections.

“Excluding government consumption expenditure, GDP growth works out to 7.4 per cent,’’ he said.