India’s growth numbers shape how we understand everything from jobs to investment to global standing. But what if those numbers don’t tell the full story?

New research suggests India may have both underestimated and overestimated growth at different moments over the past two decades. That insight opens the door to a broader conversation about India’s macroeconomic choices, from exchange rate policy to electricity pricing to the quiet persistence of trade barriers.

To discuss these issues and many more, Abhishek Anand joins Milan on the podcast this week. Abhishek is the Founder and Managing Director of Insignia Policy Research and a Visiting Fellow at the Madras Institute of Development Studies. He’s previously worked as an Economist at the World Bank and was a member of the Indian Economic Service, working in key positions throughout the Indian Ministry of Finance.

Together, with Arvind Subramanian and Josh Felman, Abhishek is the author of a new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics titled “India's 20 Years of GDP Misestimation: New Evidence.”

Abhishek and Milan discuss the controversy over India’s GDP estimates, important reforms within India’s statistics ministry, and the debate over the Reserve Bank of India’s policies to defend the rupee. Plus, the two discuss Abhishek’s work on power sector reform and the embrace of non-tariff barriers that stymie the spirit of India’s new bilateral trade agreements.

Episode notes:

Abhishek Anand, Josh Felman, and Arvind Subramanian, “India's 20 years of GDP misestimation: New evidence,” Peterson Institute of International Economics Working Paper 26-3, March 2026.
Abhishek Anand, Arvind Subramanian, and Josh Felman, “How GDP data misread the economy, complicated policy,” Indian Express, March 14, 2026.
Abhishek Anand and Naveen Thomas, “Free Trade on Paper, Protection in Practice: How India’s Policy Interventions Hollow Out Trade Liberalisation,” O.P. Jindal Global University, January 2026.
Abhishek Anand, Arvind Subramanian, and Josh Felman, “Going forward, RBI’s rupee policy must not repeat errors of recent history,” Indian Express, December 29, 2025.
Abhishek Anand, Praveen Ravi, Navneeraj Sharma, and Arvind Subramanian, “To help India’s economy, unleash the power sector,” Indian Express, August 27, 2025.