Piyush Goyal attacked critics questioning India’s 7.8% real GDP growth.
Subhash Chandra Garg challenged revisions to last year’s nominal GDP estimate.
Congress alleged the lower comparison base made recent growth appear stronger.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday attacked opposition leaders and critics questioning India’s latest GDP figures, accusing them of distorting official data and undermining the country’s economic performance.
“A few jobless people call themselves economists and appear on TV channels to harm the country. Do not fall for this,” Goyal said while responding to allegations that the previous year’s GDP estimate had been lowered to make growth in the first quarter of 2026-27 appear stronger.
Goyal argued that ministers do not produce official economic data and said those challenging the figures were attempting to mislead the public.
“Record growth of 7.8% is something that no other country has been able to replicate. This is the capability, hard work, and joint effort of 140 crore people in the country. Due to this, India has emerged as a globally trusted partner,” he said at an event as reported by ANI.
“PM Modi has led the country with farsightedness... A few jobless people call themselves economists and appear on TV channels to harm the country. Do not fall for this... A few Opposition leaders who want to see India as ‘a dead economy’ will fail once again, just like they have failed again and again. India will continue to grow rapidly under the leadership of PM Modi,” he added.
What Triggered the GDP Dispute?
India’s real gross domestic product grew by 7.8% during the April–June 2026 quarter, according to government data released on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the figure, while Goyal described it as evidence of the collective strength of 1.4 billion Indians.
The estimate, however, came under scrutiny after former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg questioned revisions made to the previous year’s GDP at current prices.
“The 7.8 per cent looks impressive on the face of it, but we should get into the reality of it,” Garg told NDTV.
“The current-price GDP last year was ₹86 trillion. This has been revised down to ₹80 trillion... If you had not revised last year’s GDP, the growth in current prices would have been only 2.6 per cent,” he said.
Garg’s calculation concerned nominal GDP, or economic output measured at current prices. The headline 7.8% figure, by contrast, represents real GDP growth after adjusting for inflation.
Congress Questions Revision
Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Pawan Khera cited Garg’s argument to question why the previous year’s estimate had changed.
“GDP growth is indeed 7.8% if you compare the revised Q1 figure of roughly ₹80 lakh crore last year with ₹88.27 lakh crore this year. But that is not Garg’s argument. His argument is that Q1 last year was originally reported at roughly ₹86 lakh crore. Now, for the purpose of calculating this year’s growth, that same Q1 figure has been revised down to roughly ₹80 lakh crore,” Khera said.
The Opposition alleged that lowering the previous year’s figure had created a smaller comparison base, making the latest growth appear stronger.
MoSPI Rejects Allegation of Deliberate Revision
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation rejected the allegation, saying the ₹86.05 lakh crore and ₹80 lakh crore estimates belonged to different GDP series and could not be directly compared.
The ₹86.05 lakh crore estimate for the April–June 2025 quarter was calculated under the old GDP series, which used 2011-12 as its base year.
A new series, using 2022-23 as the base year, was introduced in February 2026. Under this framework, the same quarter was initially estimated at ₹80.32 lakh crore. It was subsequently revised to ₹80.44 lakh crore before being updated to ₹80 lakh crore as new indicators and data became available.
“The change in the estimate of Q1 2025-26 does not represent a downward revision made to make the current year’s growth appear higher. It reflects successive methodological and data revisions to the GDP series,” MoSPI said.
The ministry said the change resulted from the introduction of a new base year, improved sources and revised methods. It added that comparing figures produced under different GDP series would give an inaccurate growth rate.
Under the new series, nominal GDP increased from ₹80 lakh crore in the April–June 2025 quarter to ₹88.27 lakh crore in the corresponding quarter of 2026, representing growth of 10.3%. Real GDP growth during the period was 7.8%.
The dispute therefore centres not only on the strength of India’s economic growth but also on whether revisions associated with the new GDP series have been adequately explained and interpreted.
