The Indian economy expanded at its slowest pace in nearly three years as the manufacturing sector¹ continued to slow.

印度制造业发展持续放缓，经济增长达近三年以来最低点。

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.1% between October and December, from a year earlier.

Growth in manufacturing sector slowed to 0.4% during the period, down from 2.7% in the previous quarter.

India's growth has also been hurt by a series of interest rate hikes aimed at reining² in（控制，放慢） high prices.

"GDP came in slightly weaker than consensus³, though not entirely⁴ surprising," said Radhika Rao of Forecast Pte.

"Moderation in the manufacturing sector was likely the starkest⁵ as higher input⁶ prices and sharp jump in borrowing costs depressed⁷ output."

'More headwinds'

India's economy has been slowing in the past few quarters. It posted a growth of 7.7% in the April to June period, followed by 6.9% in the July to September quarter.

Analysts⁸ said that given the slowdown in key sectors⁹ such as manufacturing and mining, Asia's third-largest economy may not be able to achieve its growth targets for the current financial year.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that the government was targeting a growth of 7% - 7.5%.

"Today's data is dismal¹⁰, and the full year's growth at 6.9% looks difficult," said Rupa Rege Nitsure of Bank of Baroda.

"The country has started attracting more headwinds in the form of gyration¹¹ in crude oil prices. So we should be prepared for worse numbers."

Analysts said that India's central bank needed to take more action in a bid to spur growth.

"The ball is in the government's court now to kick-start policy reforms to jump-start near-stalled private investments and produce a medium-term fiscal¹² consolidation¹³ road map at the upcoming budget," said Ms Rao of Forecast Pte.