New Delhi, Dec. 6 -- India's economic growth decelerated in the September quarter because of the general election earlier in the year and not a systemic issue, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday, expressing confidence that growth in the December quarter would make up for the lost momentum.

She conceded, however, that the plateauing of consumption demand in developed economies was a matter of concern for India's exports.

Speaking at the India Japan Forum 2024 in the capital, a closed-door meeting between participants from both countries, Sitharaman said during the first quarter of election years, spending slows down as central and state administrations tend to focus on the electoral process, and this is reflected in the s...