Hardeep Singh Puri & Fadnavis counter Rahul Gandhi’s ‘dead economy’ claim with IMF data

Union Minister Hardeep Puri and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the India's economy is "strong, steady, resilient" and its growth story continues.

These statements come after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a X post on Thursday echoed US President Donald Trump's view that the Indian economy was "dead", and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister attached the latest IMF World Economic Outlook report, wherein it projected India's growth in 2025 and 2026 at 6.4 per cent -- the highest among the fastest major economies.


The IMF report pegged the US's growth at 1.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively. For China, the rates were pegged at 4.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively.
Fadnavis attributed this projected economic growth to the "visionary leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Under the visionary leadership of Hon PM Narendra Modi Ji, India continues its steady and resilient economic growth, earning global recognition among emerging market and developing economies," he wrote on X.

"These projections place India among the top emerging market and developing economies with consistent performance over the years," he added, referring to the latest IMF projections. "This is the result of focused governance, structural reforms and unwavering commitment to a Viksit Bharat."

On similar lines, attaching the same IMF report, Union Minister Hardeep Puri also lauded the country's growth journey.

"India is at the forefront of the global economy! Despite uncertainties prevailing worldwide, India will remain the fastest-growing economy. These figures are a strong response to those who lack faith in India's capabilities. This pace indicates that India will soon further strengthen its position among the world's leading economic powers," Minister Puri wrote on X, in Hindi.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had also earlier this week shared the same IMF report to affirm that India's economy was set to "grow as a robust economy and is poised to be the fastest growing emerging market in 2025 and 2026 as well."

In September 2022, India had surpassed the UK to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.

India has made quite a turnaround, climbing the ladder of economic growth. This can be gauged from the fact that it was ranked 11th in 2013-14, and India has now positioned itself to become the fourth-largest economy soon.

In 2013, India was placed in the league of 'Fragile 5' economies. The term 'Fragile 5' was coined by a Morgan Stanley analyst and refers to a set of five emerging countries, including India, whose economies were not doing well. The other four countries were Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey.

To realise the vision of 'Viksit Bharat' or a developed nation dream by 2047, India will need to achieve a growth rate of around 8 per cent at constant prices, on average, for about a decade or two, the Economic Survey document for 2024-25 tabled on January 31 asserted.

On expected lines, the Indian economy grew by 6.5 per cent in real terms in the recently concluded financial 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 per cent, respectively, in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

(With agency inputs)