India's economy grew at a much faster pace than expected in the July-September quarter, helped by government spending and manufacturing but private consumption remained sluggish.
Asia's third-largest economy expanded 7.6% in the September quarter, much faster than the 6.8% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and the Reserve Bank of India's estimate of 6.5%.
India continues to be one of the fastest growing major economies, amid western economies being squeezed by high interest rates and energy prices, and a slowdown in China.
The pace of growth was slightly slower than the 7.8% expansion India's economy saw in the previous quarter, helped by the comparison with a lower base the previous year.
The manufacturing sector, which for the past decade has accounted for just 17% of the economy, expanded 13.9% year-on-year in the September quarter, compared with a revised 4.7% in the previous three months.
"The buoyant growth is being underpinned by cyclical factors like robust corporate profits, a strong fiscal impulse ... and an boisterous financial sector," said Madhavi Arora, economist at Emkay Global.
Government spending rose 12.4% year-on-year in September quarter compared to 0.7% contraction in the previous quarter, but private consumption growth surprisingly slowed to 3.1% year-on-year from 6%.
Growth in capital formation, an indicator of investment, picked up pace to 11% year-on-year from 8% in the previous three months.
