The government will release official data on India's GDP (gross domestic product) growth for the April-June period this Friday. Ahead of the data release, a Reuters poll of economists says that the country's economy has likely expanded at its slowest pace in over 5 years during the period of review due to weak investment growth and sluggish demand.

The poll median showed the economy is expected to have grown at 5.7 percent in the June-ended quarter on a year-on-year basis. This is slightly slower than the 5.8 percent growth seen in the previous quarter.

Further, a large minority, that is about 40 percent of nearly 65 economists polled by Reuters, are expecting an expansion of 5.6 percent or lower. If the forecast is correct, it would be the weakest start in the first three months of a financial year in seven years.

Auto sales, output of consumer durables, cement and steel production-which are all considered as indicators of a country's consumption and investment trends, have all weakened in the recent months. In July, domestic passenger sales numbers were the lowest in nearly two decades. It was the ninth straight month of decline for auto sales. Liquidity crunch has also plagued various sectors.

"The deceleration in growth that commenced in the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2019 is likely to have continued," said Rini Sen, India economist at ANZ told Reuters.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced certain measures for the economy last Friday amid increasing concerns of a slowdown.