Poonam Gupta: Perspectives on India's growth - last four decades to the present
Speech by Dr Poonam Gupta, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the 14th Foundation Day Lecture of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), at the CDS, Thiruvananthapuram, 20 February 2026.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
It is my pleasure and honour to deliver the 14th Foundation Day Lecture of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS). Established in October 1970 by Professor K. N. Raj, CDS has been a premier academic institute in India for social science and development research. CDS's footprints in economic research have been evident through its pioneering work on human development, labour, industry, international trade, migration, decentralisation and local governance, among others.
The topic that I have chosen for my talk today is on some of the salient features of India's economic growth in recent years and how they may be contextualised over the past four decades.
I focus on three defining features of India's growth trajectory: first, its sustained momentum and gradual acceleration; second, the coexistence of rapid expansion with macroeconomic stability; and third, a demonstrated resilience reflected in increasingly stable and predictable economic outcomes. Where appropriate, these patterns are situated in a comparative cross-country perspective.