Indian economy will grow 7% this fiscal: CEA

Mumbai: Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said the Indian economy has responded quite satisfactorily to global headwinds, and exuded confidence that real GDP growth is likely to touch seven per cent in FY26.

Speaking at the India Maritime Week here, Nageswaran said three global rating agencies have recently upgraded their ratings on India, and if the country continues on the same track, India can soon break into the ‘A’ rating category.

The academic-turned-policy advisor said the resilience shown by the economy, coupled with measures by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), places the Indian economy in a ‘comfortable position’.

“We should be quite satisfied with the way the Indian economy has responded to global uncertainties this year, and the tariff-related developments as well,” he said. The policy measures, including relief in income tax and the recent GST rationalization “have combined to improve the economic growth prospects for this year to near or around 7 per cent in real terms for FY26”, he added.

In February, Nageswaran had estimated that real GDP growth may fall to as low as 6.3 per cent for FY26, and the US’ tariff moves led them to further revise their expectation down to 6 per cent.

“But the resilience of the economy, the timely policy measures taken to boost demand have actually placed us in a very comfortable position,” he added.