New Delhi: The Congress has questioned the GDP numbers released by the Centre, saying that several other indicators—including unemployment, a fall in foreign direct investment (FDI) and a slump in the manufacturing sector—suggest “the BJP government’s official numbers are suspect”.
A report released by the Congress’s research department chairperson M.V. Rajeev Gowda, a former Rajya Sabha MP, notes that the “central contradiction” in the Indian economy lies in the concentration of wealth within a small segment of the population, alongside a parallel weakening of public programmes meant to protect people from risk and deprivation.
“On paper, the Indian economy is thriving. In the second quarter of the financial year 2026, GDP growth was reported at 8.2%, significantly exceeding government and market expectations,” states the report titled ‘Real State of the Economy 2026’.
“The data showed that the 8.2% GDP growth was driven by a surge in manufacturing, which reportedly grew at 9.1% in the second quarter and 8.4% half-yearly (April-September 2025). However, during the same half year, the Index of Eight Core Industries, which make up 40% of the Index of Industrial Production, grew by only 2.9%. Such wide disparities add to the doubts surrounding the government’s statistics,” it adds.
The report further alleges that the Modi government’s tenure has been marked by diminished confidence in India’s economic numbers, amid concerns that the government “manipulates” official data to suit its political agenda.
“Such fears have strengthened after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) evaluated the quality of India’s statistics and accorded a C grade,” it points out. The IMF awards a C grade when its assessment indicates that the data has some shortcomings.
“Such a critical assessment calls for a review of India’s GDP growth numbers to examine their veracity and to see whether they correspond with key drivers of economic growth,” it adds.
Gowda states in the report that the document cuts through the “hype and examines the factual realities” of the Indian economy.
The “widening inequality” in India, he adds, is the result of Modi government’s “deliberate policy choices that have prioritised markets and corporate champions over livelihoods and social protection”.
According to the report, while growth should ideally propel investment, this has not been the case in India.
“In four of the ten months of 2025, net foreign direct investment was negative, implying that investors withdrew more money than they brought in and that more Indian capital was invested abroad,” it says.
“Between 2017-18 and 2023-24, manufacturing’s share of employment fell from 12.1% to 11.4%, while services declined from 31.1% to 29.7%. Over the same period, agriculture absorbed more workers, with its employment share rising from 44.1% to 46.1%, reversing the standard trajectory of structural transformation,” it adds.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Don’t mistake India’s economic recovery for a new era of rapid growth
