India's latest GDP growth reading of 7.8% should not be dismissed as merely the result of a statistical upgrade, according to Garima Kapoor, Deputy Head of Research and Economist at Elara Capital.

In comments published by ETMarkets, Kapoor argued that the acceleration in India's economic growth is genuine, pushing back against suggestions that the headline number has been inflated by revisions to official statistics or methodological changes in how GDP is calculated. Such skepticism has a precedent in India: the 2015 revision of GDP methodology, which updated the base year and expanded coverage of the corporate sector, produced significantly higher growth estimates that were debated by economists for years afterward.

The 7.8% figure places India among the fastest-growing major economies in the world, a position the country has held in recent years as its expansion has outpaced that of both developed and emerging-market peers. The reading also carries weight beyond headline comparisons, as India's Monetary Policy Committee relies on growth and inflation data when setting interest rates, meaning the credibility of GDP prints directly informs rate-setting expectations.

Kapoor's remarks come amid ongoing debate among economists and market observers about how much of India's reported growth reflects underlying economic momentum versus the effects of data revisions and base effects. Her view, as Deputy Head of Research and Economist at Elara Capital, is that the improvement is real rather than an artifact of statistical methodology.

Source: Economic Times Markets