Archive · 2 Sep 2026
Goyal Defends India’s 7.8% GDP Growth Amid Data Debate
India said its economy grew by 7.8 percent from April to June 2026.
Minister Piyush Goyal said this number is real and should not be dismissed.
Some economists and former officials questioned whether the number gives a complete picture of the economy.
They also asked why very fast growth was not creating more good jobs.
Goyal said critics were comparing numbers made using different methods and different base years.
He said textile businesses in Tirupur wanted 100,000 more workers.
He also said Larsen & Toubro could not expand faster because it needed more people.
The statistics ministry agreed that figures from the old and new series should not be compared directly.
The disagreement is about how trustworthy the growth number is and what it means for jobs.
Piyush Goyal defended India’s reported 7.8% GDP growth for April-June 2026.
Goyal said critics were incorrectly comparing old and new GDP series with different base years.
Raghuram Rajan and Subhash Chandra Garg questioned whether the figures accurately reflected economic conditions.
Goyal said businesses in Tirupur and Larsen & Toubro were struggling to find enough workers.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said the figures from different base-year series could not be directly compared.
- Who
- Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, with criticism from Raghuram Rajan, Subhash Chandra Garg and other economists and former officials.
- What
- A debate over India’s reported 7.8% GDP growth, the revised GDP series and whether economic expansion is creating enough jobs.
- When
- The first-quarter data was released on Monday, and Goyal responded to the criticism on Wednesday; the quarter covered April-June 2026.
- Where
- India; Goyal spoke at the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association’s annual session in Delhi and cited Tirupur businesses.
- Why
- The dispute concerns whether the 7.8% figure accurately represents India’s economic strength and employment performance.
Government and Growth Supporters
Economists and Former Officials
Reliability of the growth figure
Government and Growth Supporters
Goyal said 7.8% growth is a reality and argued that critics were comparing figures from incompatible GDP series and base years. The statistics ministry said the comparison was incorrect.
Economists and Former Officials
Raghuram Rajan and Subhash Chandra Garg questioned whether the headline figure accurately reflected the economy, with Garg highlighting the effect of a revised base.
Meaning of the GDP revision
Government and Growth Supporters
The statistics ministry said the difference between the old and new figures was not a deliberate downward revision intended to mechanically increase growth.
Economists and Former Officials
Garg said the current-prices GDP for the previous year had been revised from Rs 86 trillion to Rs 80 trillion and argued that growth would have been only 2.6% without that revision.
Growth and employment
Government and Growth Supporters
Goyal said businesses were struggling to find workers, citing a request for 100,000 people in Tirupur and labor shortages at Larsen & Toubro as evidence of employment demand.
Economists and Former Officials
Rajan and other critics asked why rapid growth was not creating more good jobs and questioned whether the headline figure captured underlying economic conditions.
- Reported growth
- 7.8% GDP growth in the April-June 2026 quarter.
- RBI forecast
- The reported growth exceeded the Reserve Bank of India’s 7% forecast.
- Goyal’s argument
- Critics were comparing growth rates from an old GDP series with a new series using a different base year.
- Critics’ concern
- Raghuram Rajan questioned whether the numbers were real and why stronger growth was not producing more good jobs.
- Tirupur employment example
- Goyal said textile businesses requested 100,000 additional workers whom they would skill and employ.
- Larsen & Toubro example
- Goyal said the infrastructure company cited a lack of workers as a reason it could not expand faster.
- Statistics ministry response
- The ministry said the Rs 86.05 lakh crore figure belonged to the old 2011-12 base-year series and could not be compared with the new 2022-23 series.
