Story perspectives

Das Says Reforms Drove 7.8% GDP Growth

By Drooid · Oct 5, 2026, 4:05 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary-2 to PM Narendra Modi, addressed the Kautilya Economic Conclave, outlining India’s economic performance and policy agenda.
He said reforms enabled 7.8% real GDP growth in Q1 FY27.
He identified three resilience pillars: governance improvements, macroeconomic stability, long-term productive-capacity investment.
He reported gross non-performing assets declined to 1.68% in June 2026.
He said the current-account deficit was 0.6% of GDP in FY25-26.

History

Historical Context

In June 1991, facing a crisis with reserves for three weeks of imports, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao appointed Manmohan Singh finance minister. On 1 July they devalued the rupee, scrapped licensing, cut tariffs from ~85% to 25%, and secured IMF and World Bank loans, raising foreign investment from $132 million (1991-92) to $5.3 billion (1995-96). The reforms lifted GDP growth to 6.2% in FY1994-95, shaping macro-stability goals.

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Story summary

Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary-2 to PM Narendra Modi, addressed the Kautilya Economic Conclave, outlining India’s economic performance and policy agenda.
He said reforms enabled 7.8% real GDP growth in Q1 FY27.
He identified three resilience pillars: governance improvements, macroeconomic stability, long-term productive-capacity investment.
He reported gross non-performing assets declined to 1.68% in June 2026.
He said the current-account deficit was 0.6% of GDP in FY25-26.

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