Nominal GDP levels under India’s new national accounts series are lower than earlier estimates, but the economy is expected to catch up quickly on the back of strong growth, Saurabh Garg, Secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), told CNBC-TV18.
The government recently rolled out a new GDP series with 2022–23 as the base year, revising both levels and growth rates. Under the new series, real GDP growth for FY2025–26 has been placed at 7.6%, higher than the 7.4% estimated earlier, while nominal GDP growth is pegged at 8.6%. The upgrade reflects stronger quarterly performance, including a 7.8% expansion in the October–December quarter.
Garg said the revision was largely driven by fresh data incorporated into the new base year.
He underlined that India has maintained real GDP growth of over 7% for three consecutive years, calling it a sign of resilience despite global shocks. Even where revisions have led to marginal downgrades, the overall picture remains strong. For 2023–24, growth was revised slightly lower to 7.2%, but Garg stressed that this was still “a very, very healthy rate of growth”. Growth estimates for 2024–25 and 2025–26 have both been revised higher under the new series.
On nominal GDP, Garg acknowledged that the absolute level has been revised down, particularly for the base year. For 2022–23, nominal GDP has been lowered to about ₹261 lakh crore from around ₹269 lakh crore earlier. Nominal GDP estimates for subsequent years, including FY2026, are also marginally lower than earlier projections.
However, Garg said the impact of the lower base would be short-lived. “It is slightly lower than what was projected earlier in each of these years including FY26, but given the stronger growth rates, we can expect that there will be a very early catch-up,” he said.
