Surprised by GDP furore, methods already in public domain: MoSPI Secy Garg

Saurabh Garg further said the old numbers — that have now been revised down — should not be termed overestimates. (Photo: MoSPI website/ Enhanced by Gemini), 5 min readNew DelhiSep 9, 2026 06:46 AM IST First published on: Sep 9, 2026 at 06:45 AM IST The ongoing furore over the new GDP series is surprising as it comes six months after it was originally released, said Saurabh Garg, Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Garg further said the old numbers — that have now been revised down — should not be termed overestimates. “Saying overestimation gives the impression that there was a systematic bias. That’s alluding a bit much,” Garg told The Indian Express in an interview. “…it’s not an overestimation. GDP is an estimation and you make estimations based on the best data available. When the 2011-12 and 2004-05 series were estimated, certain indicators were used and later changed, leading to better estimates.