The country's economy expanded 7.6% in the July-September quarter, trouncing estimates of a 6.8% rise, data released on Thursday showed. He had an earlier forecast growth at 6.7%. The government stuck to its 6.5% growth forecast for the year, but chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said he was "more comfortable with an upside to this projection than before". Reuters GraphicsCitigroup revised its growth forecast for the financial year upwards by 50 basis points to 6.7% citing a pick-up in investment activity. "This reaffirms our view of sustained investment recovery," the Wall Street bank's chief India economist Samiran Chakraborty said in a note.

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Persons: Ranita Roy, Saumya Kanti Ghosh, V, Anantha Nageswaran, Gross, Samiran Chakraborty, Chakraborty, Radhika Rao, Gaura Sen Gupta, Ira Dugal, Nivedita Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, State Bank of India, Reuters Graphics Citigroup, Street bank's, DBS, IDFC, Bank Economics Research, Thomson Locations: Kolkata, India