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This came after the Centre revised its Q1 FY2025-26 GDP estimate, following the introduction of a new GDP series with 2022-23 as the base year, along with updated data and methods. Q1 FY2025-26 GDP at current prices, which was initially estimated at ₹86.05 trillion under the old 2011-12 base-year series, is now estimated at ₹80 trillion.
India’s economy grew at 7.8 per cent in the June quarter of FY27, compared with 8.6 per cent in the preceding March quarter of FY26, data released by the National Statistical Office showed on Monday. Meanwhile, nominal GDP grew by 10.3 per cent in the June quarter, up from 9.1 per cent in the preceding March quarter.
Here’s all you need to know about the revised GDP series:
1. Why was last year’s GDP revised?
The Centre said it was incorrect to interpret the revision as “a deliberate downward revision of last year’s GDP to mechanically increase the current year’s growth rate”.
Q1 FY2025-26 GDP at current prices was initially estimated at ₹86.05 trillion under the old 2011-12 base-year series. After the introduction of the 2022-23 base-year series, it was revised to ₹80.32 trillion in February 2026. It was subsequently revised to ₹80.44 trillion in June and then to ₹80 trillion after the incorporation of the new IIP and PPI series.
“The movement from ₹86.05 trillion to ₹80.00 trillion is the result of successive revisions to the GDP series arising from the change in base year, incorporation of improved data sources and methodologies, and updation of available indicators,” the Centre said.
It added that the old ₹86.05 trillion figure cannot be directly compared with the latest Q1 FY2026-27 estimate because they belong to different GDP series.
2. What exactly changed in the new GDP series?
The updated series uses 2022-23 as the base year, instead of 2011-12, and incorporates new data sources, including the Output Producer Price Index and Banking Services Price Index, both based on 2022-23.
A key methodological change is the adoption of double deflation for manufacturing, the Centre said. Under this approach, output and intermediate consumption are deflated separately to arrive at GVA at constant prices. The Centre said the updated methodology is more robust, while the IMF describes double deflation as the preferred method for calculating GDP in volume terms.
3. How can manufacturing show negative inflation when both output and input prices are rising?
Under double deflation, manufacturing output and intermediate consumption are deflated separately to account for price changes, the government explained. When input prices rise faster than output prices, nominal GVA can grow more slowly than real GVA, resulting in a negative implicit GVA deflator.
In Q1 FY2026-27, manufacturing’s nominal GVA grew 7.7 per cent, while real GVA grew 9.2 per cent, resulting in an implicit GVA deflator of -1.5 per cent.
“A negative inflation in the implicit deflator in manufacturing does not mean that manufacturing prices have fallen,” the government added.
4. Why is GDP inflation different from CPI and WPI inflation?
The Centre said the three measures capture different parts of the economy.
CPI measures price changes in a specific basket of goods and services consumed by households, while WPI covers bulk commodities, raw materials and manufactured goods at the wholesale level. The GDP deflator, on the other hand, covers the entire economy, including government spending, investment, exports and financial and non-financial services.
Therefore, the GDP deflator need not move in line with either CPI or WPI. It is a derived measure reflecting the price impact of more than 300 individual price deflators used at the item or item-group level, the government explained.
5. Will the latest GDP estimates be revised again?
The Centre said the statistical discrepancy between GDP estimates compiled through the production and expenditure approaches is a statistical balancing item. Its movement alone cannot be taken as evidence that GDP is either understated or overstated.
The direction and magnitude of any future revision will depend on revisions to the underlying production- and expenditure-side estimates. The Centre said it cannot be concluded in advance that GDP will necessarily be revised upwards or by a specific magnitude.
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