CEA Nageswaran Defends India’s GDP Data, Asserts No Methodology Changes Inflate Growth Figures
Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran has defended the integrity of India’s GDP statistics, asserting that the country does not manipulate economic growth figures through changes in methodology or base years. In an interview with ANI, Nageswaran addressed concerns from economists regarding the reliability of India’s GDP estimates, emphasizing that GDP measurement is inherently an estimate and that India adheres to internationally accepted statistical practices.
Nageswaran highlighted that India’s recent GDP rebasing exercise illustrates the government’s commitment to accurate reporting. He noted that while other countries might inflate their GDP figures, India actually revised its estimates downward. “If they had said Indian GDP was no longer 354 lakh crores but 384 lakh crores, people would have accepted that. In fact, we are the only country which brought it down,” he stated. He reiterated that the government does not use methodological changes to artificially enhance economic output.
The Chief Economic Adviser emphasized that India’s statistical framework prioritizes reliable data over figures that support specific narratives. “We produce reliable statistics. We follow internationally accepted methods and we don’t use the GDP methodological revisions to bump up numbers artificially,” he said. Nageswaran also pointed out that critiques from international institutions like the IMF have focused more on methodology than on the credibility of India’s data. He acknowledged that improvements to methodology have been made in response to such feedback.
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