Pakistan‘s economic growth has been gasping for breath and recently recieved the IMF‘s nod for its 24th bailout since 1958. However, despite the cycle of bailouts and assistance, core growth has been a key concern for the Pakistani economy. What’s particularly striking is GDP of key Indian states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu surpassed Pakistan’s GDP.
India’s Economy 10x larger than Pakistan
According to the latest IMF data, Pakistan’s economy grew by 2.6%, with its GDP standing at approximately $373.08 billion. Recurring issues such as political instability, high inflation, and a poor balance of payments continue to drag Pakistan’s growth down.
Meanwhile, India‘s GDP has surged ahead and is nearly 10 times Pakistan’s growth. In fact in the current context, India and is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. India’s real GDP growth for 2025 stood at 6.4%, and the country’s GDP at current prices surpassed $4 trillion.
IMF Data Shows Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Economies Now Bigger Than Pakistan’s
What’s even more striking is even the GDP of key states in India like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are now larger than Pakistan’s GDP.
Maharashtra’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) stands at Rs 42.67 lakh crore, and Tamil Nadu’s GSDP stands at Rs 31.55 lakh crore.
Both Maharshtra and Tamil Nadu are also key industrial and automotive hubs in the country with heavy industrilisation. The renewed focus on ‘made in India’ further boosted GDP growth in these states.
Pakistan Invests Heavily in Defence
Despite economic challenges, Pakistan continues to spend heavily on defence. For FY25, the country increased its defence budget by 16.4%t to $7.37 billion (Rs 60,655 crore approximately).
This is a significant move, considering that Pakistan’s foreign debt is nearly 42% of its GDP. Nearly 82% of Pakistan’s military imports between 2019 and 2023 came from China, reflecting a strong defenCe partnership between the two nations.
India and China’s Military Budgets Much Larger
In comparison, India has allocated $81.72 billion (Rs 6.72,556 crore) for defence for FY26 — a 4.7% increase from the previous year.
China, too, has raised its defence spending by 7.2 per cent, with its military budget now over $245 billion (Rs 20.16 trillion approsximately), as it continues to modernize its armed forces.