The story so far: In a fiercely contested polity, the state of the economy is a hotly debated topic. In the past decade or so, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate has been presented by the Union Government as reflecting its prudent management of the economy, while the Opposition, led by the Congress, accuses it of gaming the system.

Right from the change of base year for GDP calculation from 2004-05 to 2011-12 and the change of the methodology, such as the use of the Corporate Affairs Ministry’s MCA-21 database and the use of market rates instead of the factor cost, in 2015, everything has been debated in the public domain. Even the first quarter GDP report of 2026-27, with the base year changed to 2022-23, has come under a cloud over allegations by a former Finance Secretary, who has got support from the Opposition.