NEW DELHI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - After world-beating economic growth last year, India's policymakers are scrambling to head off a sharp slowdown as worsening global conditions and domestic confidence wipe out a recent stock market rally.

On Tuesday, Asia's third-largest economy forecast annual growth of 6.4% in the fiscal year ending in March, the and below the government's initial projections, weighed by weaker investment and manufacturing.

The downgrade follows disappointing economic indicators and a slowdown in corporate earnings in the of 2024, which have forced investors to rethink the country's earlier outperformance and cast doubts over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's .

The fresh worries are heightening calls for authorities to lift sentiment by loosening monetary settings and slowing the pace of fiscal tightening, especially as Donald Trump's looming second presidency throws more uncertainty over the global trade outlook.

"You have to revive the animal spirit, and you also have to ensure that consumption picks up. It's not that easy," Madhavi Arora, chief economist at Emkay Global Financial Services, said, adding India could expand its fiscal balance sheet or cut interest rates.

Such calls come amid a flurry of meetings by Indian policymakers with businesses growing increasingly worried about faltering demand.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a series of meetings in December with industry and economists, customary ahead of India’s annual budget, which is due Feb. 1.

Some of the measures proposed in those talks to boost growth include putting more money into the hands of consumers and cutting taxes and tariffs, according to demands by trade and industry associations.