Goyal defends 7.8% GDP growth as government rejects 2.6% claim
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Union Minister Piyush Goyal has defended India’s 7.8% real GDP growth in the first quarter of FY2026-27, saying the figure reflects the hard work of 140 crore Indians and cannot be challenged by comparing numbers from different GDP series.
“Truth cannot be hidden. Ministers do not manufacture this data,” Goyal said, accusing critics of distorting economic figures and creating a negative narrative. He also criticised people he described as “jobless” economists appearing on television to question India’s growth.
The remarks came after former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg argued that growth would have been around 2.6% in current prices if last year’s GDP had not been revised down. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has also questioned aspects of India’s economic growth and GDP methodology.
The government rejected the 2.6% calculation, calling the comparison an “apples and oranges” exercise.
Saurabh Garg, Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said the figure cited by critics came from the previous GDP series, which used 2011-12 as its base year. The government introduced the new 2022-23 base-year series in February 2026.
Under the new series, Q1 FY2025-26 current-price GDP was initially estimated at Rs 80.32 lakh crore. It was later revised to Rs 80.44 lakh crore and subsequently to Rs 80 lakh crore as additional data and updated price indices were incorporated.
MoSPI said GDP comparisons must use figures from the same series and constant prices when measuring real growth. It said revisions are part of the normal GDP estimation process and incorporate updated data sources and methodology.
The ministry also defended the manufacturing figures, where real GVA grew 9.2% while nominal GVA grew 7.7%, resulting in a negative implicit deflator of 1.5%. It said this can occur under the double-deflation method when input prices rise faster than output prices.
MoSPI further explained differences between the GDP deflator and CPI or WPI, noting that GDP measures price changes across the broader economy. It also said the statistical discrepancy between production and expenditure estimates is a balancing item that can change as more data becomes available.