India’s statistics secretary defended the country’s latest 7.8 percent growth estimate and the large India GDP revisions that accompanied it, saying the changes stemmed from the use of more granular price data and additional sources rather than any systematic bias in the numbers. Statistics Secretary Saurabh Garg made the comments after former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg questioned the latest figures, arguing that a sharp downward revision to growth in the April to June quarter of the previous fiscal year had made the newest growth rate appear stronger than it otherwise would.
The statistics ministry rejected that interpretation, saying the recent India GDP revisions are based on a new GDP series using 2022-23 as the base year, under which historical data have also been revised to incorporate updated sources and methodology. Garg told reporters on Wednesday that the changes resulted from a combination of these two factors working together.
GDP Methodology 2022-23 Base Year Explains Recent Revisions
According to Garg, the GDP methodology 2022-23 base year shift is central to understanding why recent quarters have been revised so significantly. He explained that the revisions to recent quarters were driven partly by the switch from wholesale price data to a Producer Price Index, combined with the addition of further data sources into the calculation process.
The Producer Price Index provides considerably more granular price information than the previous approach, with the number of Producer Price Index deflators used in the estimates rising to more than 300, up from about 180 previously. Garg also pushed back against suggestions that the revisions were systematically lowering the previous year’s base in order to artificially boost subsequent growth figures, noting that over the past three years quarterly revisions had moved in both directions, while changes at the annual level had remained relatively small.
Ministry Rejects Data Manipulation Claims Around India GDP Revisions
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation separately rejected claims that India’s GDP data had been manipulated to make the latest growth rate appear stronger, arguing that the comparison being used to reach a lower growth estimate involved comparing the old and new GDP series directly, which it said was not an appropriate basis for comparison. Garg called such claims highly unfortunate and said year on year economic growth should be assessed using constant prices rather than current prices.
He noted that India had revised its GDP base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23 back in February, and that the GDP methodology 2022-23 base year revision had been carried out using the latest available methodologies, data sources and estimation mechanisms. Such base year revisions, he added, are undertaken internationally roughly every five to seven years as a matter of standard statistical practice, and the reduction in GDP cited by critics as evidence of manipulation had already been reflected when the new series was first released in February, well before the first quarter figures were announced.
Broader Data Improvements Support the New Estimates
The ministry said the recent India GDP revisions also reflect the incorporation of new administrative data, alongside the Producer Price Index and a new Banking Services Price Index, into the updated series. It addressed a range of technical concerns in a detailed set of published questions and answers, covering issues such as negative implicit price deflators in manufacturing and the contrast between nominal and real growth rates in the mining sector.
Officials also cautioned against reading too much into the statistical discrepancy that can arise between GDP estimates calculated through production side and expenditure side approaches. The ministry described this discrepancy as a balancing item that reflects differences between the two methods and can shift as more comprehensive source data become available, adding that its current size should not on its own be taken as evidence that GDP has been understated or overstated. Garg said future revisions to quarterly estimates are expected to be smaller going forward, as more timely data becomes available under the improved framework.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, September 3rd, 2026
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