Amid the growing debate over the 7.8% first-quarter GDP growth number, the government has clarified that revisions to India’s GDP estimates from 2022-23 onwards are the result of incorporating new and improved economic indicators and should not be seen as a correction of errors in earlier estimates.
Some analysts have pointed out that the higher-than-expected GDP growth in the first quarter of FY26 is partly a result of downward revisions to figures for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
While the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has not denied that revisions have taken place, it has sought to clarify that the revised annual and quarterly GDP estimates are a result of incorporating the new Producer Price Index (PPI), Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Banking Services Price Index (BkSPI), all with 2022-23 as the base year. Updated administrative data have also been incorporated.
MoSPI said the earlier estimates were prepared using the best available data and price indices at the time of their release. The new indicators became available only after the release of the new GDP series in February 2026.
The government has stressed that the exercise does not amount to a change in the GDP methodology or the base year, which continues to be 2022-23. Rather, the revisions reflect the normal process of updating National Accounts as more comprehensive data become available.
Key change
The most significant change is the replacement of WPI with PPI wherever the latter is considered a more appropriate price measure.
PPI captures changes in prices received by domestic producers and is conceptually better aligned with the producer side of economic activity. Its use is also recommended under the UN System of National Accounts.
The new PPI has an expanded commodity basket, updated weights and newer quotations, including emerging products while removing obsolete items from the earlier WPI series. This provides better mapping of price movements to activities covered in the National Accounts.
The new IIP also has wider coverage, while the BkSPI allows measurement of changes in the actual physical volume and transactional activity of banking services.
Revisions can be up or down
The incorporation of the new indicators has affected both current-price and constant-price GDP, as well as annual and quarterly estimates from 2022-23 onwards.
The impact varies by sector and does not necessarily result in higher GDP growth. For instance, real GDP growth for 2023-24 has been revised up to 7.3% from 7.2%, while growth for 2024-25 has moved to 7.2% from 7.1%. For 2025-26, the provisional growth estimate has been revised to 7.8% from 7.7%.
Nominal GDP for 2023-24 has been revised up to Rs 290.73 lakh crore from Rs 289.84 lakh crore. For 2024-25, however, nominal GDP has been revised slightly down to Rs 317.99 lakh crore from Rs 318.07 lakh crore. For 2025-26, provisional nominal GDP has been revised down to Rs 345.37 lakh crore from Rs 346.36 lakh crore.
MoSPI said the direction of the revision depends on the difference between the new and earlier indicators and their relative importance in GDP compilation.
The revisions are particularly visible in sectors where PPI has replaced WPI, while mining and quarrying has been affected by the new IIP series.
The government said the revised estimates should therefore be viewed as improved estimates based on updated information, rather than a correction of an error in the earlier GDP numbers.