The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in the current financial year (FY26) ending March this year, as per the first advance estimates released on Wednesday by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
This is significantly higher than the GDP growth rate of FY25, which stood at 6.5 per cent. The government had earlier projected the growth for FY26 to be in the range of 6.3-6.5 per cent.
The GDP numbers got a fillip in the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal, when the economy belied expectations and grew at 8.2 per cent during the period. According to the government, buoyant growth in the services sector would be a major driver of economic growth.
The projection assumes significance given the global turmoil in view of steep tariffs imposed by the US and later Mexico. These projected numbers, combined with the turbulent global economy, will set the tone for the upcoming Budget, which will seek to balance fiscal prudence with the need to sustain growth and protect domestic industry.
As per the government projections, Real GDP is estimated to attain a level of ₹201.90 lakh crore in FY26, against the Provisional Estimates (PE) of GDP for the FY25 of ₹187.97 lakh crore.
It is to be noted that the advance estimates of GDP are subject to revisions as more data becomes available.
