D Subbarao, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), told the Press Trust of India (PTI) that India’s rapid growth must bring more productive jobs and higher incomes.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said real gross domestic product rose 7.8% year over year in April-June 2026, the first quarter of fiscal 2026-27. That compares with 6.9% growth in the same quarter a year earlier. The World Bank forecasts 7.1% growth for the full fiscal year, up from its 6.6% forecast in April.
The ministry’s September labor survey put the unemployment rate for the labor force aged 15 and older at 5.0%, unchanged from August and 0.2 percentage points below September 2025. The share of people in that age group who were working rose 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier to 52.7%. Neither measure directly reports wages or productivity.
In the PTI interview published Oct. 21, Subbarao argued that too little productive work is available on farms, many service jobs pay poorly and educated young people struggle to find suitable positions. He said automation and industries requiring heavy investment can increase output without adding jobs at the same pace.
Subbarao said weak income growth can restrain household spending and discourage businesses from investing. He called for stronger private investment, better vocational training and more employment in textiles, garments, footwear and food processing. “Otherwise, our demographic dividend could become a demographic disappointment,” he told PTI.
He also urged technical scrutiny of differences between GDP estimates and other economic indicators, PTI reported. MoSPI says its current GDP series already adjusts manufacturing output and input costs separately for price changes. The ministry says estimates can change as more data become available.
MoSPI is scheduled to release GDP figures for July-September on Nov. 30.
