New Delhi, May 31 (IANS): The Indian economy has clocked a robust GDP growth of 7.8 per cent in the January-March quarter while for the full financial year 2023-24, the growth rate works out to a stellar 8.2 per cent -- up from 7 per cent in FY 2022-23.

The high growth rate has been driven by a strong performance of the manufacturing and mining sectors, according to figures released by the Ministry of Statistics on Friday.

"The growth has been propelled mainly due to significant growth of 9.9 per cent in The manufacturing sector in 2023-24 over -2.2 per cent in 2022-23 and a growth of 7.1 per cent in 2023-24 in the mining sector up from 1.9 per cent in 2022-23," a statement noted.

The manufacturing sector plays a key role in providing quality jobs to the young graduates passing out of the country's engineering institutes and colleges.

The government has rolled out incentives to boost manufacturing of smartphones, electronic goods, drones and semiconductors to help India emerge as an alternate supply chain to a geopolitically alienated China. This has also led to an increase in high-value exports.

The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sharply raised expenditure on large infrastructure projects in the highways, railways and ports sectors to create more jobs which has had a multiplier effect in creating more demand for goods and services and spurring a growth in the economy.

The ongoing growth momentum indicates the resilience of the Indian economy based on a strong domestic market that has helped to protect the country from the global slowdown.

India is ranked as the fastest-growing economy in the world, with China struggling to recover after the pandemic and the European countries narrowly escaping a recession.