Thu Dec 04 00:18:00 UTC 2025: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Former Economic Advisor Questions India’s Headline Growth Figures at Book Launch

Chennai, India – December 4, 2025 – At the launch of his new book, A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey, former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian cast doubt on the reported robustness of India’s economic growth. Speaking at an event organized by the Madras Management Association and Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Subramanian pointed to lagging private investment, declining foreign direct investment (FDI), and weak consumption growth as indicators that the economy may not be as strong as the headline numbers suggest.

Subramanian, now a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, co-authored the book with Devesh Kapur, Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University. The event was moderated by former RBI Governor and Chairperson of MIDS, Duvvuri Subbarao.

Subramanian emphasized the need to revive India’s manufacturing sector, particularly in light of the “China plus one” strategy. “China’s share of low skill global exports is 45-50 %, while India’s share is 3-4 %. There is no reason why India’s share cannot be raised to 10-12 %. This will provide a boost to inclusive growth,” he stated. He cautioned that a services-led growth model would only benefit a small percentage of the workforce and expressed concern about the impact of artificial intelligence on India’s competitive advantage in areas like coding.

Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, also spoke at the event, highlighting the importance of improving “healthy life expectancy” through preventative measures. “This means focus should be on prevention, which essentially means providing clean air, clean water, sanitation, nutritious diet and good housing,” she added.

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