GDP growth will touch 8.5% in 2nd quarter: Rajiv Kumar: Niti Ayog VC

New Delhi, Sept 01 (ANI): NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar was confident in saying that the next quarters will witness 8.5% growth. Kumar's statement was based on good growth in farming and manufacturing sectors. He said, "GDP numbers are beyond my expectation. It demonstrates that our economy is on the upturn and is rising. The economic recovery began in last July and I had said at that time that second quarter will be higher and it was. This growth means happiness for common people. In the agriculture sector, the previous quarter was 3 per cent. On an average, it was 2.6 per cent about 10-15 years ago. 5.3 per cent growth has been recorded in this quarter. Manufacturing has also seen a good growth of 13 per cent, which will increase. In the next quarter, I predict that GDP growth would be at least 8.5 percent." The Central Statistical Office (CSO) on August 31 estimated that GDP for the first quarter of the year, that is, April to June this year, stood at 8.2 per cent.