Slowdown in manufacturing activity pulled India's GDP growth rate in second quarter (Q1) ended September down to 4.5 per cent, marking the fifth successive quarter of decline.

"8 core industries output in October has declined by 5.8%," according to government data. The government had exuded confidence that the economic growth of the country will pick up pace soon but the offical data released has painted a bleak piture of the sagging Indian economy.

In the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal, the country's GDP growth had slipped to a 25-quarter low of 5 per cent.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had countered the opposition's remarks on a "deepening economic crisis in the country" in the Rajya Sabha, stating that growth may have slowed down but the economy will never experience a "recession".