Indian government recently said the GDP of the country has grown by 8.2% in the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2025-2026 compared to 5.6% in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
This is a very good performance and understandably, the Prime Minister congratulated Indians for their hard work which made this possible.
But the ground reality seems far different.
If India had really grown at 8.2%, then Indians, especially the middle-class’ purchasing power should have gone up. Instead, no one is having the surplus cash to buy a new car or invest in an apartment.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh says the government has taken inflation at only 0.5% which resulted in such high GDP numbers whereas crores of Indians are being burdened by a crushing rise in prices of daily essential items.
One can’t help feeling that he is true. Incomes are in no way rising in proportion to inflation.
A 2bhk apartment in the IT corridor of Hyderabad which could be purchased for Rs 1 crore a few years back is now being quoted at Rs 1.5 crores. There are no buyers yet the prices continue to skyrocket backed by advertising blitzkrieg.
Shaping of perception has become far more important than having the courage to face the facts and take corrective actions.
As for the middle class Indian, he slogs on in the hopes of a 2bhk apartment with a hatchback and save enough to get his daughter married to an NRI and send his son to the US.