Why India’s 7.8% GDP growth isn’t enough to celebrate
India has been recording 7% plus growth in the post-pandemic years, but it is not enough to meaningfully improve the lives of the country's population. Here’s why:
India has been recording 7% plus growth in the post-pandemic years, but it is not enough to meaningfully improve the lives of the country's population. Here’s why:
SBI Ecowrap's report dismissed claims of missing funds in national accounts as unfounded fiction. It emphasized the reliability of Q1 FY27's GDP growth estimates, suggesting that revisions remain a normal statistical practice.

10866333 Sandeep Yadav
India's updated gross domestic product methodology addresses past statistical issues, but downward nominal revisions and the sudden inclusion of the Producer Price Index raise credibility concerns.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the appeal on September 1 in a video posted on Instagram from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, linking domestic spending choices with India's goal of becoming a developed economy by 2047.
Japan’s JCR upgrades India’s sovereign rating to A- with a stable outlook after strong 7.8% GDP growth. Here’s what the BBB+ to A- upgrade means.
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Mint Explainer: A base-year revision allows the government to incorporate newer data sources, improve its methodology and better capture changes in the economy, which can look very different over five years.
“This is a devastating critique that requires straightforward responses from the government,” Tharoor said in a post on X quoting Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's statement.
The opposition party also asked what methodology was adopted by the government to bring this revision while seeking an explanation for the reduction of ₹43 lakh crore in the estimated size of the economy.
Raghuram Rajan stated he has neither questioned nor endorsed India's GDP growth figures. He expressed confusion over the economy’s growth not leading to increased private investment, FDI, or job creation.

10862160 shipping cargo containers file photo express
Addressing a national workshop in New Delhi on leveraging free trade agreements, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said India's nine FTAs currently cover economies representing about $60 trillion in GDP and provide preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global trade.
Neelkanth Mishra of the World Bank defended India's 7.8% GDP growth, asserting that claims questioning its accuracy are incorrect.
Opposition parties and some experts have questioned the government's latest GDP data. Mint examines the allegations and whether there is any merit to the concerns.
A methodological shift and routine revisions to India's GDP data have caused confusion over official statistics and critics' claims, even as headline growth struggles to lift living standards.
The Congress party cited criticism by former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on GDP numbers to attack the government, saying it must understand that ‘PR can polish the picture’ of GDP but not the economy itself.
In July 2019, Garg took voluntary retirement from service, a day after he was moved to the Power Ministry in a broader reshuffle just three weeks after the presentation of the Union Budget. Garg's scheduled retirement was in October 2020.
The government issues a detailed clarification in a question-and-answer format, refuting allegations of artificially pushing up the real growth rate for the June quarter to 7.8% and the nominal expansion rate to 10.3%.
India's economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate, showing resilience against concerns of an economic downturn over the US-Iran war, the latest numbers show.