India's economy grew 6.6 percent in the year through the July-September quarter, its weakest pace in more than a year, held back by a shrinking farm sector following poor monsoon rains, data showed on Friday. Analysts said they expected the impact of the monsoon to drag on growth in Asia's fourth-biggest economy in the next two quarters, underscoring the country's dependence on a sector that provides a living for more than 600 million Indians.

The rise in gross domestic product for the second quarter of India's 2004/2005 fiscal year was slightly above 6.25 percent predicted by a Reuters poll, but was also the slowest rate of expansion since 5.3 percent clocked in April-June, 2003.

"The GDP data for the third quarter could be depressed due to farm sector growth, which had displayed strong 16 percent growth last year," said A. Prasanna, analyst with ICICI Securities.

While still growing, the Indian economy has been losing speed through 2004. It grew 7.4 percent in the year through the April-June quarter and 8.2 percent in January-March.

Most analysts do not expect the deadly tsunami, that left a trail of destruction along India's south-eastern coast as well as in other countries across the Indian Ocean, to have a major impact on overall economic growth.

The manufacturing sector expanded 9.3 percent in the year through July-September, accelerating from 8.0 percent in the year through April-June.

India's latest economic growth figure lagged Chinese growth of 9.1 percent for the year through July-September.

Copyright Reuters, 2005