India’s economy growth suffered a historic 23.9% contraction in the April-June quarter, as the strict coronavirus lockdown hit businesses, reported news agency Agence France-Presse.
“The entire quarter was spent in lockdown and it was a complete washout for the Indian economy,” economist Ashutosh Datar told AFP.
It was the biggest fall since the country started publishing quarterly statistics 1996.
On Monday the BJP government warned the figures could be revised further since the pandemic had also affected the ability to collect accurate data on economic activity.
India’s alleged “unplanned” lockdown from late March prompted a huge exodus by millions of migrant workers who fled cities for their villages due to a lack of food and money.
According to data, many factories struggled to cope with labour shortages, even after pandemic contained lockdowns lifted.
Construction activity was also halved in the country, while manufacturing plummeted by nearly 40% compared to the previous year.
India’s coronavirus tally crossed the 3.6 million mark to reach 36,21,245 after 78,512 new cases were registered in 24 hours on Monday.
The toll rose by 971 to 64,469.
India has 7,81,975 active cases now while the number of recovered cases reached 27,74,801.
