Group graded PI-algebras and their codimension growth

Let W be an associative PI-algebra over a field F of characteristic zero. Suppose W is G-graded where G is a finite group. Let exp(W) and exp(W_e) denote the codimension growth of W and of the identity component W_e, respectively. The following inequality had been conjectured by Bahturin and Zaicev: exp(W)\leq |G|^2 exp(W_e). The inequality is known in case the algebra W is affine (i.e. finitely generated). Here we prove the conjecture in general.