‘Hindu rate of growth’ term coined to defame a faith, not used today when India is fastest growing global economy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India was driving the global economy today and witnessing not just high growth but also psychological renaissance.

Recalling British times when India’s slack growth rate was referred to as the “Hindu rate of growth”, the prime minister said this term was used by colonialists to defame and undermine an entire faith and civilisation.

Dwelling on the consequences of inferiority complex, the British bred into Indians to rule them, Modi said it was ironical that the “so-called intellectuals who find communalism in everything did not see communalism in the term Hindu rate of growth, which even found its way onto books and research papers during their era.”

“India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world, a global growth engine and powerhouse. But despite India’s rapid growth, no one refers to our progress as the Hindu rate of growth. However, this term was used when India struggled for growth rates of 2-3 per cent. Linking a country’s growth to the religion or identity of its people could not have happened inadvertently. This was a deliberate colonial strategy. An entire society and tradition was equated with unproductivity and poverty, with attempts made to prove that India’s slow growth was due to Hindu civilisation and culture. The irony is that those so-called intellectuals who find communalism in everything failed to see communalism in the term Hindu rate of growth, which was made a part of books and research papers during their era,” said the PM speaking at a local media event.

Modi said every sector today was shedding the old colonial mindset and aiming for new achievements with pride. “Our pace is constant. Our direction is consistent. Our intent is always Nation First,” said the PM adding that today India is becoming the key growth engine of the global economy.

“When the world talks of a slowdown, India writes a story of growth; when the world faces a crisis of trust, India acts as a pillar of trust; when the world advances towards fragmentation, India is a bridge builder,” he noted.

The prime minister referred to the recent GDP data saying 8 per cent growth rate mirrors the new aspect of India’s progress.

“This is not just a number. It is an indicator of a strong signal of macro-economic growth.

India has today become the driver of the global economy and these are our GDP numbers when the world average is 3 per cent, G-7’s average is 1.5 per cent. Even in these circumstances, India has emerged as a model of high growth and low inflation,” the PM said.

He said these are no mean achievements and these data signal a fundamental change India has experienced over a decade.

“This change is about resilience, about problem solving; about cutting out doubts and expanding aspirations,” he said lamenting that vast parts of India’s capacities remained untapped for long and were unravelling only now.

The prime minister added that, unlike in the past when reforms were reactionary and triggered by either political expediency or the need to manage a crisis, today reforms are goal‑driven.

“The year 2025 was a year of reforms. Next generation GST was the biggest reform. Earlier, we reformed the direct tax regime by making income up to 12 lakh tax free,” the PM said.