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“Doomsayers were doomed and India bloomed\u2026 Yet again,” wrote Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on\u00a0X<\/a>, reacting to smart first quarter GDP data that came out earlier this week, widely beating forecasts, but also sparking a major controversy over its credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the face of it, the 7.8% number was a shot in the arm for the prime minister who’s recently faced scathing student anger<\/a> over his government’s handling of exam paper leaks and rising youth unemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While those longstanding concerns have not gone anywhere, the better-than-expected growth print suggests that his government may have deftly weathered the Middle East oil shock despite heavy dependencies on imported crude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Sajjid Chinoy, chief India economist at JP Morgan, India’s “cyclical growth recovery” had been visible for the past six months, driven by a huge fiscal stimulus, including direct tax cuts in February last year, a reduction of consumption taxes in September and interest rates which have come off by about 1.5% since early 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “But the question was, could India insulate that recovery from events in the Middle East, and this is where the government deserves enormous credit,” Mr Chinoy told India Today<\/a> news channel, adding that the urgency with which Delhi diversified its energy imports in the face of the Hormuz blockade helped the country protect its growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n