India's Economic Growth for FY12 Projected at 7.5 Percent

India's economic growth in the current fiscal year ending March 2012 is expected to be around 7.5 percent, as the growth in fourth quarter will be better than the 6.9 percent growth logged in the second quarter, the chief economic adviser to the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Kaushik Basu also said he did not rule out a small slippage in the budgeted fiscal deficit target of 4.6 percent of GDP.

Earlier, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the economy was expected to grow 7.3 percent in the current fiscal year, as the global financial problems have adversely affected domestic growth.

Deputy Chairman of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that Investment in India should pick up in the second half of the fiscal year and help boost growth, which slowed to its weakest pace in more than two years in the September quarter.

Gross domestic product growth fell to 6.9 percent in the second quarter of the financial year, slipping below 8 percent for the third straight quarter, much slower than 7.7 percent growth in the previous quarter.