A series of claims from top officials within NITI Aayog regarding the size and ranking of the Indian economy has sparked criticism, with Opposition leader Jairam Ramesh highlighting the conflicting narratives and questioning the underlying economic reality.
Ramesh expressed that the prominent government think tank has presented a confusing picture, leading to concerns about the focus solely on headline figures while core economic indicators show weakness.
Ramesh in his post on X pointed out that first NITI Aayog CEO claimed that India had surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy “just as he was speaking,” citing IMF data. This bold claim was swiftly countered by a NITI Aayog member, who presented “a realistic picture”.
Adding another layer of complexity, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Rmesha said, later presented a different perspective, arguing that his colleagues were using the “wrong standard for comparison.” The Chairman had highlighted that India’s economy is already half the size of the USA’s economy.
The Congress General Secretary highlighted these conflicting statements and expressed his concern. He tweeted, “This fixation on the size of the economy alone is not helping. It gets headlines but meanwhile consumption is tepid and investment momentum is just not picking up.”
Ramesh’s comments followed NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery’s statement that India’s economy, when measured using purchasing power parity (PPP), is already worth USD 15 trillion—more than half the size of the US economy.
PPP is a way to compare economies by looking at what a certain amount of money can buy in each country, rather than using market exchange rates. It helps show the real size and productivity of an economy.
Bery explained that while India’s GDP at market prices is about USD 4 trillion, its PPP value is much higher, at USD 15 trillion. He noted that economists often use PPP to measure things like labour productivity and compare countries more accurately.
According to Bery, the US economy is valued at around USD 29 trillion in PPP terms, so India’s economy is already about half its size when measured this way.