As someone said, tongue in cheek, people don’t eat GDP numbers. People eat food, wear clothes and footwear, send their children to school, buy medicines, use mobile phones, watch television, scroll social media, and want to be safe and happy — measured as Consumption. The aggregate of Consumption (C), Investment (I), Government spending (G) and net Exports (X -M) — after factoring for taxes and subsidies— is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Measurement of GDP, especially the rate of growth of GDP, is crucial to gauge the health of the economy.

The MoSPI has released the GDP numbers for Q1 of 2026-27: the rate of growth is 10.3 per cent in nominal (current) prices and 7.8 per cent in constant prices compared to Q1 2025-26. The government and the sarkari economists are pleased. The sceptics have raised questions. There is a raging debate on the credibility of the GDP numbers. Rather than debating the desirability of ‘one nation, one election’ (which will undermine federal parliamentary democracy), it is better to debate the GDP numbers and whether the benefits of growth are percolating to the people.

I do not wish to add to the noise.

Let’s assume that MoSPI’s numbers are correct. My calculations of........

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