New Delhi - A sharp slowdown in the Indian economy was evident Friday when official data showed growth at 5.3 per cent in the October-to-December quarter, the slowest quarterly growth in almost six years.

The figure was a substantial decrease from the 8.9-per-cent expansion recorded in the same period the previous year as the global economic crisis cut demand and exports.

The data was released by the Central Statistical Organization one month before India's financial year ends on March 31. It has been the slowest growth in Asia's third-largest economy since the March quarter in 2003.

The economy grew 7.6 per cent in the second quarter and 7.9 per cent in the first quarter of the fiscal year.

In overall terms, growth for the first nine months of the fiscal year dropped to 6.9 per cent, against the 9-per-cent expansion in the corresponding period of the year before.

The latest figures put a question mark on whether India would be able to record the 7.1-per-cent growth the government has forecast for the current financial year.

The decline also came as a shock for the ruling United Progressive Alliance government as the country prepares to go into general elections.

Economists were worried about a 2.2-per-cent decline in agricultural output and a 0.2-per-cent drop in manufacturing. Construction also posted a much lower growth of 6.7 per cent in the quarter.

"One of the reasons for the decline is the slide in agriculture," DK Joshi, principal economist with the ratings agency Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd, told the IANS news agency. "A negative 2.2 per cent does have an impact."

"All sectors have shown weakness, but manufacturing has a greater impact because of its overall weight," he added, predicting that the Indian economy would grow close to 6.5 per cent this financial year. (dpa)