The Congress questions the ₹43 crore GDP revision and asks the Center to explain the methodology

Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh. File | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Congress on Thursday (September 3, 2026) asked the Narendra Modi government four questions on the latest GDP estimates, sought an explanation for the cumulative downward revision of the estimated size of India’s economy by ₹43,000 crore over the past four years and questioned the methodology used to calculate actual growth.

In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh asked why the GDP estimates for all four years from 2022-23 have been revised substantially downwards, what components of the new methodology led to the change, who was consulted on its framework and why the deflator used to calculate real GDP appears to underestimate the impact of inflation.

“How did a change in methodology cause such a big drop in the estimated size of the Indian economy?” asked Mr. Ramesh.

The questions came days after the government highlighted 7.8% real GDP growth in the April-June 2026 quarter. Mr Ramesh said the figure needed closer scrutiny, arguing that the revisions made the growth rate appear stronger than it was.

He pointed to repeated revisions to the GDP estimate for April-June 2025, which brought the figure down from around ₹86 crore to ₹80 crore. Citing former finance minister Subhash Chandra Garg’s calculations, Mr Ramesh said nominal growth in the last quarter would have been closer to 2.6% instead of the reported 10.3% if the earlier base had not been revised downwards.

“India’s GDP growth is inflated by a deflator that does not reflect the inflation faced by ordinary Indians,” Mr Ramesh said, referring to the difference between the GDP deflator and retail and wholesale inflation.

He also claimed that the new GDP series lowered nominal GDP estimates for almost every quarter over the four-year period, resulting in a total reduction of ₹43 crore. The government needed to explain how a change in methodology could lead to such a large reduction in the estimated size of the economy.

Mr Ramesh also questioned the GDP deflator, which stood at 2.5% for the quarter, against retail inflation of 3.9% and wholesale inflation of 9.4%. The widening gap raised questions about whether the deflator adequately captured the inflation faced by households, he argued.

Manufacturing and private consumption were other areas of concern, he said, citing Mr Garg’s calculations that GST in manufacturing fell by 5.2% year-on-year and private consumption by 5.4%.

Mr. Ramesh further cited concerns raised by former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian and the IMF about India’s national accounts and argued that the government needed to ensure greater transparency in the methodology behind GDP estimates.

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said Mr Modi was the “creator of a rigged world”.

“Let him live in that world, but the reality is quite different,” he said, referring to the 7.8% GDP growth.

Published – 03 Sep 2026 20:17 IST