Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday acknowledged the increase in India&rsquo;s per capita income under the BJP-led NDA government, but drew a comparison with the growth achieved during the Congress-led UPA administration, which he said had a faster rate of expansion.
Chidambaram was responding to comments made by NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam, who recently stated that India's per capita income had nearly doubled from USD 1,438 in 2013&ndash;14 to USD 2,880 in 2024. While Chidambaram agreed that this growth was &ldquo;broadly correct,&rdquo; he argued that the data, when placed in a broader context, reveals that the UPA&rsquo;s performance outpaced that of the NDA.
Posting on social media platform X, Chidambaram wrote, &ldquo;The CEO of NITI Aayog told the media that India&rsquo;s per capita income had doubled from USD 1,438 in 2013&ndash;14 to USD 2,880 in 2024 in 11 years. Broadly correct, and we are happy.&rdquo;
However, he added that a complete understanding requires a look at the full data set from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which he cited in detail. According to the IMF, India&rsquo;s per capita income rose from USD 543 in 2003, when the UPA took charge, to USD 1,438 in 2013 &mdash; a 2.64-fold increase over a decade. Under the NDA, the increase was from USD 1,438 in 2014 to USD 2,878 in 2024, representing a 1.89-fold rise, and reaching the doubling mark only in 11 years.
&ldquo;Under the UPA government, the per capita income more than doubled in 10 years&mdash;actually 2.64 times. Under the NDA government, the per capita income fell short of doubling in 10 years&mdash;actually 1.89 times. The per capita income doubled in 11 years,&rdquo; Chidambaram stated.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am happy with the record of both governments, but a shade happier with the UPA record.&rdquo;
He added, &ldquo;I welcome the progress, but the complete picture tells a different story when the performance of the two successive governments is compared.&rdquo;
The NITI Aayog chief&rsquo;s remarks were delivered during a press conference held after the 10th Governing Council Meeting of the institution, themed &lsquo;Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047&rsquo;. During the briefing, Subrahmanyam announced that India had overtaken Japan to become the fourth-largest economy in the world, citing IMF figures that placed the Indian economy at the USD 4 trillion mark.
&ldquo;We are the fourth-largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy. This is not my data; this is the data from the IMF. India today is larger than Japan. It&rsquo;s only the United States, China, and Germany which are larger, and if we stick to what is being planned, what is being thought through, it&rsquo;s a matter of another two to three years; we would become the third-largest economy,&rdquo; Subrahmanyam said.
India had previously moved ahead of the United Kingdom in September 2022 to claim the fifth position in global economic rankings. According to the IMF&rsquo;s April 2025 World Economic Outlook, India&rsquo;s nominal GDP is expected to reach USD 4.187 trillion in fiscal year 2026, narrowly edging out Japan&rsquo;s projected GDP of USD 4.186 trillion.
The same IMF report projects India&rsquo;s GDP growth at 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026, well above global averages. The fund anticipates global economic growth to slow to 2.8 per cent in 2025, before recovering slightly to 3.0 per cent in 2026. In the Indian context, private consumption&mdash;especially in rural areas&mdash;continues to be a major force behind economic expansion.
Looking toward the future, India has set an ambitious target of becoming a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047. According to NITI Aayog&rsquo;s &ldquo;Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat @2047&rdquo; approach paper, the country aspires to attain high-income status by that time, defined by a per capita income exceeding USD 14,005, as per the World Bank&rsquo;s threshold.
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Chidambaram cites IMF data to show per capita income grew faster under UPA than NDA, despite recent gains.

NDA's Economic Claims Lack Full Picture: PC

Chidambaram cites IMF data to show per capita income grew faster under UPA than NDA, despite recent gains.

May 27, 2025 | 24:06 IST