Handle with care: India's latest GDP numbers flatter but don't deceive

Even if no statistical jugglery is afoot, the "noise" in India's GDP numbers should be eliminated in order to hear the underlying music without distortion, writes T N Ninan

India’s latest GDP (gross domestic product) numbers flatter, though they don’t deceive — because the underlying story is a good one. The flow of quarterly GDP numbers should probably come with a warning: Fragile, handle with care! To understand why, consider the latest set of numbers, which deliver GDP growth of 7.6 per cent for the July-September quarter. And pick the sectoral number that principally supports that upbeat total: Manufacturing sector growth of 13.9 per cent over a year earlier, unusual in itself and well above the growth rates for other sectors.

It so happens that the corresponding quarter a year