Sitharaman touts India's 7.8% Q1 growth at New York investors meet

India recorded a “remarkable growth” of 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026-27 despite global disruptions, and against all odds, remains the fastest-growing major economy in the world, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman on Wednesday participated in a high-level business roundtable with investors, organised by the Consulate General of India in New York in association with Bank of America, New York.

Addressing investors, Sitharaman said that “despite global disruptions and against all odds, India continues to be the fastest-growing major economy in the world, recording a remarkable growth of 7.8 per cent in Q1 of FY 2026-27,” the Finance Ministry said in a post on X.

Sitharaman arrived here after participating in the G20 finance ministerial meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.

Sitharaman added that with its strong reform orientation, India has also provided greater regulatory certainty through a range of reforms, including the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

“Such reforms have contributed to ensuring ease of compliance and reducing paperwork, which has remained a prime focus of the Government of India since it assumed office over a decade ago,” the post on X said.

She added that among the key areas on which the government has focused are creation of capital assets and providing sustained support to industry through infrastructure development, particularly aviation; fostering a friendly and conducive investment climate; promoting the development of AI and data centres; supporting global capability centres; ensuring credit availability to MSMEs; and reducing non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks.

These measures have helped create a more enabling business environment for banks and industry to thrive, grow and emerge stronger, the finance minister said.

Sitharaman further said that India has consistently remained committed to the path of fiscal prudence and fiscal discipline over the past several years, despite the ongoing challenges confronting the global economy since the onset of COVID-19.

She highlighted the investment climate in India that has improved significantly, with both the central government and state governments demonstrating greater keenness and competitiveness in attracting and facilitating investments in their respective regions.

Such efforts are part of the larger national endeavour towards achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the minister said.

Earlier, in his welcome address, India’s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Kwatra said that the GDP numbers for the first quarter manifest the resilience of the Indian economy.

He said both India and the US can benefit from India’s fast-growing economic trajectory by creating stronger linkages between trade and investment between the two countries, according to the Finance Ministry’s post on X.