A few weeks back, US President Donald Trump disgruntled over India’s Russian crude oil purchases had called Indian economy a “dead economy”. Trump slapped 50 percent tariff on India as ‘punishment’, only for India to casually drop a 7.8 percent GDP growth rate for Q1. India’s ‘dead economy’ outpaced every major economy including the US.
Apparently, Trump ‘dead economy’ jab is as rooted in reality as his claims of ending Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of becoming President.
On Friday (29th August), the Central government revealed that India’s real GDP has been estimated to grow by 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of the financial year 2025-26, over the growth rate of 6.5 per cent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has released the Quarterly Estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the April-June Quarter of financial year 2025-26. India’s nominal GDP grew at an 8.8 per cent rate during the April-June quarter.
The Agriculture and Allied Sector has observed the Real GVA (gross value addition) growth rate of 3.7 per cent, as compared to the growth rate of 1.5 per cent registered in Q1 of the last financial year. Secondary Sectors, prominently Manufacturing (7.7 per cent) and Construction (7.6 per cent) sector have registered above 7.5 per cent growth rate at Constant Prices in this quarter.
Mining and Quarrying (-3.1 per cent) and Electricity, Gas, Water Supply and Other Utility Services Sector (0.5 per cent) have seen a moderated real growth rate during Q1 of 2025-26. In 2024-25, the Indian economy grew by 6.5 per cent in real terms. The Reserve Bank of India had projected 6.5 per cent GDP growth for the fiscal year 2024-25. In 2023-24, India’s GDP grew by an impressive 9.2 per cent, continuing to be the fastest-growing major economy. According to official data, the economy grew 8.7 per cent and 7.2 percent, respectively, in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Earlier this year, the World Bank said India will need to grow by 7.8 per cent on average over the next 22 years to achieve its aspirations of becoming a developed country by 2047. However, the World Bank asserted that getting there would require reforms and their implementation to be as ambitious as the target itself.
Notably, India is contributing about 18 percent to world’s economic growth while the US’s contribution is estimated to be around 11 percent.
According to the latest report by Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee, India is expected to remain the fastest-growing economy in its global coverage. The report forecasts India’s real GDP growth at 5.9% in 2025 and 6.4% in 2026, far ahead of the US (1.0%) and China (4.0%).
“India remains the fastest growing economy in our coverage,” the committee noted, highlighting the country’s robust domestic demand, structural reforms, and investment momentum. In fact, while the global economy is projected to slow down, from 3.5% in 2024 to just 2.5% in 2025, India is expected to outperform significantly.
India’s economy is so ‘dead’ that the United Kingdom recently signed a massive Free Trade Agreement with India and the European Union is eager to propose an FTA matching the same scale. India’s economy is so dead that Japan is set to invest 10 trillion Yen in the next 10 years. Major US companies, including Apple, despite Trump’s threats, have invested billions in India and are keen on expanding presence here. The EFTA countries too are pursuing lucrative trade deals with India given its growing economic clout. While India is a priority for such global trade engagement, Trump believes India’s economy is dead.
Frustration over India’s refusal to surrender its sovereignty before the US, or outright delusion, but Donald Trump’s removed-from-reality ‘dead economy’ jibe against India has not aged well. The so-called dead economy has surpassed Japan to become a $4 trillion and world’s fourth largest economy in 2025 and is set to become third-largest economy by 2028, overtaking Germany.
Going by the unhinged rants Trump administration officials have unleashed against India, it won’t be surprising if Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, will somehow attribute India’s 7.8 per cent growth rate to New Delhi’s Russian oil purchases.