The Indian economy contracted by 7.3 percent in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, according to official data Monday, in the worst recession in the country since its independence.

Closures aimed at containing the coronavirus left millions of unemployed.

Asia's third-largest economy grew 1.6 percent between January and March (the fourth quarter of the fiscal year), having emerged from its first "technological slump" since 1947, following two consecutive quarters of downturns.

A study prepared by Azim Premji University in Bangalore revealed that about 230 million Indians were plunged into poverty (meaning they live on less than 375 rupees, or the equivalent of five dollars per day, by definition) as a result of the pandemic.

The easing of restrictions by the end of 2020 contributed to the recovery of economic activity for a period that may be brief, given the significant increase in the number of Covid infections in April and May.

The second wave, which killed 160,000 people over an eight-week period, prompted the authorities to impose new closure measures, and as a result 7.3 million people lost their jobs in April alone, according to the Indian Economic Monitoring Center.

This is an additional tragedy in a country where 90 percent of the workforce works informally without any social security, and where millions are thus ineligible for emergency government rations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has yet to announce any major new plans to stimulate the economy.