There is practically no manipulation in calculating GDP, says govt

Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday said there is "practically no manipulation" in calculating the GDP as norms and internationally agreed standards are followed for the calculation.

The Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister's remark came while he was responding to questions about growth numbers in the Lok Sabha.

"We are following the norms and the internationally agreed standards and, on that basis, we are calculating the GDP. There is, practically, no manipulation. We are collecting data from various departments like agriculture...," he said during Question Hour.

He noted that the GDP is estimated by summing up the gross value of different kind of activities plus tax on products minus subsidies on these products.

The annual estimate of GDP is compiled using the procedure laid down by the Systems of National Accounts 2008 and this system is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations by the UN on how to compile measures of economic activity, the minister said.

According to the first advance estimates of GDP for 2017-18, the growth is pegged at 6.5 per cent.

"The decline in growth in 2017-18 is on account of lower growth in agriculture and allied sector and industry sector," Gowda said.