New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) India’s economic expansion and its GDP growth are clearly on the right path despite geopolitical turbulence and tariff uncertainties, and this is showing in numbers too, economist Akash Jindal said on Thursday.

Citing economic resilience and sustained fiscal consolidation, global credit ratings agency S&P Global has upgraded India’s long-term unsolicited sovereign credit rating to “BBB” from the earlier “BBB-“, ahead of the 79th Independence Day.

Reacting to the report, Jindal told IANS that fiscal consolidation is very important for any economy, and the Indian government has put in a lot of effort as far as fiscal consolidation is concerned.

“Tax collection has been increasing. GST collection is creating new records. Income tax collection has been rising. The government is infusing a lot of money into building infrastructure,” he noted.

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose to Rs 1.96 lakh crore in July, up 7.5 per cent from the same month of the previous year. Between April and July this year, gross GST revenue stood at Rs 8.18 lakh crore — marking a 10.7 per cent jump from Rs 7.39 lakh crore in the same period of 2024.

Moreover, net direct tax collection saw strong growth in FY25 at Rs 22,26,375 crore, a 13.48 per cent year-on-year growth, as there has been an overall increase in collections after the reduction of the corporate tax rates with effect from Assessment year (AY) 2020-21.

According to Jindal, India remains the fastest-growing economy, ahead of several major economies in the world.

S&P Global said that India remains among the best-performing economies in the world, and “we expect growth dynamics to continue in the medium term”, with GDP increasing 6.8 per cent annually over the next three years.

India is prioritising fiscal consolidation, demonstrating the government’s political commitment to deliver sustainable public finances, while maintaining its strong infrastructure drive.

“We forecast India’s real GDP growth at 6.5 per cent this year, which compares favourably with emerging market peers amid a broad global slowdown,” the global ratings agency said in a note.

–IANS

na/vd