New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgrade on India’s GDP growth further reaffirms the rapid and robust pace of India growth story, amid global uncertainties, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here, Goyal said that for India, it is a matter of pride that under the leadership of PM Modi, the country is progressing at a rapid pace.
“The IMF’s latest estimates show India’s growth rate will reach 6.6 per cent, up from the earlier estimate of 6.4 per cent. I am confident that the 7.8 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter this fiscal (Q1 FY26) will continue, and under the leadership of PM Modi, India will remain the fastest-growing economy,” the minister highlighted.
In addition, according to the IMF, global growth this year will be 3.2 per cent, compared to 3.3 per cent last year and “India’s growth will be almost twice of that,” said Goyal.
The IMF raised India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.6 per cent for 2025-26 from 6.4 per cent earlier despite the punitive tariffs slapped by the US on the country’s exports. The upward revision was on “carryover from a strong first quarter, more than offsetting the increase in the US effective tariff rate on imports from India since July”, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook.
In the April-June quarter of 2025-26, India grew at its fastest pace in at least a year, clocking a GDP growth rate of 7.8 per cent on the back of strong private consumption. The IMF’s projection of a higher economic growth comes close on the heels of the World Bank raising its India growth forecast for FY26 to 6.5 per cent from 6.3 per cent.
The IMF has also projected that the growth of emerging market and developing economies will moderate from 4.3 per cent in 2024 to 4.2 per cent in 2025 and 4 per cent in 2026.
On GST 2.0 reforms, Goyal said that after the announcement of the reduction in GST rates, people are shopping more and more as PM Modi has given a huge gift to people from all walks of life this Diwali.
“We observed that people were expecting a slowdown in spending in August and on August 15, it was announced that GST rates would be reduced,” he added.
(IANS)
