Saurabh Garg: MoSPI defends India's 7.8% Q1 FY27 GDP growth
India's statistics ministry (MoSPI) is standing by the country's 7.8% GDP growth for Q1 FY27, after some critics accused them of tweaking numbers due to a recent change in how GDP is calculated.
MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg called these claims unfounded, saying the growth reflects real economic activity.
MoSPI cites real economy gains
Garg pointed to solid jumps in electricity generation (up 9%), cement and steel output (up 8%), and big boosts in tourism, trade, and hotels (15% to 20%).
He also noted that people are spending more: private consumption is up nearly 8%.
According to Garg, the 7.8% that has come out as a growth figure for Q1 is only corroborated by a number of real economy figures.
MoSPI defends 2022-23 base update
India recently updated its GDP base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23, which changed past estimates and sparked debate.
Some say this makes new growth look better than it is, but Garg explained it's just about using better data sources like GST records and keeping up with how the economy has evolved.
He also clarified that these revisions were released back in February and aren't tied to this quarter's results.