"India's economy grew at 7.1 percent in July-September, lowest in three quarters, but still remained ahead of China to retain the tag of the world's fastest-growing major economy," PTI has reported.

As soon as the CSO data on GDP came out hours ago, the Congress started slamming the Narendra Modi government. "The Modi govt can fudge the numbers all they want but the facts are clear: Investment is down, agricultural growth is down, tax collection is down and confidence in 'Modinomics' has plummeted," the Opposition party said.

"LK Advani rightly called Modi an event manager, a headline hunter. Two days after the 'Feku GDP' recast, the real data: GDP goes down to a 3-quarter low of 7.1%, and fiscal deficit is already at 104%," lashed out Sanjay Jha.

Observed economist Kaushik Basu, "The drop in India's growth rate is driven by two factors. The persistent effects of the demonetization and steady decline in savings and investment rates."