00:00Meanwhile, India's bumper 7.8% GDP growth has now turned into a full-blown political and economic showdown.
00:07The government is celebrating the numbers, while the opposition and economists are questioning what lies behind the headline figure.
00:13Union Minister Piyush Goyal has hit back hard at the doubters, taking a jibe at the critics like former finance
00:20secretary Subhash Chandra Garg,
00:21saying a few jobless people call themselves economists and appear on TV channels to harm the country.
00:27The political battle escalated after Garg questioned the revision of the previous year's first quarter GDP from around 86 lakh
00:35crores to 80 lakh crores,
00:37arguing that this would mean current price growth of only 2.6%.
00:41The Congress quickly latched on, accusing the government of fudging GDP figures and questioned the downward revision.
00:48The government has rejected the charge, saying the comparison mixes different GDP series
00:52and that the 7.8% figure is based on the new 2022-23 base year series and constant prices.
01:00And now, speaking to India today, Subhash Chandra Garg is standing by his contention, keeping the GDP data showdown alive.
01:10These numbers were released in February of last year, and at that time, they had been put out in the
01:17public domain
01:18and everyone had mentioned that how much more accurate these numbers are.
01:26Now, after six months, to say that the methodology is incorrect or to say that the data has been passed
01:33is extremely unfortunate.
01:35We get data which is much more granular now.
01:39We have increased the methodology and improved methodologies, whether it is due to GST,
01:46whether it is due to the public financial management system, which gives us greater granularity of information about government expenses.
01:54In this global world of turmoil, India is that one oasis in the desert.
02:01India is that one country which has continued to stay the course.
02:08We've continued to be the fastest growing amongst the large economies of the world.
02:16The naysayers can say what they want.
02:18But 7.8% growth is a reality.
02:22When I see on television some of the opposition leaders, even possibly, you can throw in along with them a
02:32former finance secretary
02:34or a former Reserve Bank governor, both of whom could not complete their time in India or in the government.
02:44They don't even know how to compare apples with apples.
02:48They are trying to misguide the people of India, comparing a growth rate and an old series with a new
02:57series,
02:59where the base year itself has changed.
03:03India's AI ambitions are getting a major vote of confidence from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recalling Prime Minister Modi's focus
03:12on AI a decade ago.
03:14Huang says that he is excited to see Indian companies and startups now seize the opportunity.
03:19Listen in to what he said.
03:21India is one of the world's leading IT industries, and this is the beginning of a new IT platform.
03:30And I had the benefit of seeing Modi-ji a decade ago talking about AI.
03:36And I'm really anxious to see and very excited to see the local companies and the local startups starting in
03:43India,
03:43starting to take advantage of the technology, contributing to the technology, and then building the local AI economy.
03:49What would be your suggestion to Prime Minister Modi for AI?
03:52Well, AI is moving fast, so every country has to move faster.
03:57And while the big bang GDP war that is on in full swing, where Subhash Kirk has said that the
04:03first quarter of FY26,
04:05GDP revised down from 86.05 lakh crore rupees to 80.1 lakh crore rupees.
04:11Revision changes base for calculating growth.
04:15Without revision, nominal GDP growth is only at 2.6%.
04:19Growth from data reject is not expansion.
04:24This is versus what the government data states.
04:28The government data states that 86.05 lakh crore rupees figure has been cited belonging to old GDP series.
04:36The new GDP series that is repegged at the first quarter of FY26, where it stands at 80.1 lakh
04:45crore rupees.
04:46GDP series has revisited the data, the methods, the base here, and the government's saying compare apples with apples.
04:55So, that is, love-to-morrow.
04:55You can get it.
04:55And right now, you can get them back to the numbers.
