Rarely have the aggregate GDP numbers been as much celebrated as they are being done in recent years. So, the question about absolute GDP figures and the jubilation over India’s no. 4 spot in global GDP ranking is: what does it really mean for the average Indian? The government and its supporters have created a grand narrative around GDP numbers, hailing and claiming the Indian economy growing faster than developed economies as a confirmation of India reaching an audacious ‘milestone’—a developed nation over the next 25 years.

Critics, however, question the gloating over this choreographed narrative, calling it a political spin aimed at glossing over deeper structural issues in the economy, issues that the absolute numbers conceal. They claim that the narrative of growth, understandable in a country yearning for global economic recognition, is in sharp contrast with the lived reality of the majority of Indians—low per capita GDP and rising income inequality.

The question arises: is the GDP a true measure of a nation’s well-being? To put it another way, what is the real-world impact of India’s rising economic status on ordinary citizens? These are troubling questions for the government and its ‘Naya Bharat’ campaign strategists.

The critics of India’s growth story do not question the massive expansion in economic activity the country, an impoverished nation in 1947, has witnessed since independence and particularly after 1991. But the crux of their criticism is GDP ranking does not mean much for the common man if one does not feel the progress on the urban streets and in rural homes.........

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