MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg has defended India’s new GDP series amid criticism after the economy reported 7.8% real growth in April-June 2026. He said the revised series, with 2022-23 as the base year, uses newer data sources and less reliance on older proxies.
The debate is important because GDP is an estimate, not a direct count of every transaction. Base-year revisions, deflators, informal-sector measurement and the choice between direct data and proxies can materially affect growth estimates. UPSC aspirants should focus on how national income statistics are constructed, revised and interpreted rather than treating one headline number as self-explanatory.