NEW DELHI,27 Jan 2026 : “Inequality on the Rise, Welfare in Retreat – the Real State of the Economy 2026,” says former MP Rajeev Gowda, chairman of the AICC Research Group.
There are terms like “Goldilocks Moment” being used for the Indian economy by the Modi government and its fans, but unfortunately, this is far from the reality, he affirmed at a press conference here.
First, can you believe the Modi government’s numbers?
The IMF gave the Modi government’s numbers a C grade. The numbers show a 0.5% inflation.
Is that the lived reality of the vast masses of people?
Former CEA, Arvind Subramanian, he has calculated that GDP figures offered by this government are at least 2.5% higher than the actual reality.
If you look at 2024 numbers, the government calculates GDP using the production approach, and that’s 9.2% GDP growth, but it’s 47% higher than GDP calculated by another method called the expenditure method, which is 4.9%. Normally, both these numbers should match. But when there’s such a severe mismatch, clearly something is wrong.
In the first half, you had some record-breaking numbers saying that manufacturing grew at 8.4%. But if you look at the biggest component of manufacturing, the index of 8 core industries that grew by only 2.9%.
If the economy is doing so well, why is the rupee collapsing?
Gowda said the rupee has been the worst-performing currency in Asia against the dollar in the last one year.
There should be a flood of investments coming to India if the economy had been growing at the pace they suggest. Instead, you see the reverse happening :
Gowda said the truth is that the net FDI has become negative.
He said Even Indians prefer to put their money overseas. Every year under the Modi government, 4000-5000 high-net-worth individuals, millionaires, are fleeing the country.
