GDP is about money. And money is finite.

"While it is true that there has been a decline in the growth rate, reading GDP numbers in isolation doesn't give us a holistic picture of the economy," wrote Bhupendra Yadav, National General Secretary of the BJP, which is the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Indian economy is in a transitional phase, given the many structural reforms GOI (government of India) has introduced. It should emerge stronger once the positives of these reforms have percolated the market. The good news is that the percolation process is already underway." Some green shoots may have sprouted already. "Passenger air traffic volumes climbed 11.2 percent in November", "Maruti clocked the highest volumes since March of this year", and "fuel demand rose over 10 percent in November mainly driven by higher consumption of petrol and diesel". This figures maybe because of comparison with particularly low numbers in previous months, 'the base effect'. "India expects its oil consumption to expand at the slowest pace in six years as the economy sputters," wrote D Chakraborty. Consumption of petroleum products is expected to rise by 1.3% to 216 million tons. "That's the slowest since the 0.9% demand growth in 2013-14, when crude oil averaged over $100 a barrel." One reason is the 95% tax on fuel products which inhibits people from using their vehicles. The Finance Minister added another Rs 2.50 to the price of petrol in the Budget in July. Till the end of last year the government had collected Rs 11 trillion from taxes on petrol. "GDP is basically the sum of private consumption expenditure, government expenditure, investment and net exports," wrote Vivek Kaul. Leaving out government expenditure, the non-government part which forms 87-92% of the economy "grew 3.05% in July-September and was 150 basis points lower than overall growth of 4.55%," "The government expenditure grew by a whopping 15.64% and in the process pushed up economic growth to 4.55%." "India's government has nobody to blame," wrote Mihir Sharma. "Since early in his first term, Modi has largely abandoned his campaign promise to get government out of business. Instead he has relied on the public sector to build a welfare state and prop up growth." "But the money is rapidly running out." Some people recommend increased government spending to revive growth. "Certainly it's possible to see a temporary revival in the medium term if handouts increase. But that won't be sustainable." On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advises less spending. "A clear sense of keeping to the target of fiscal consolidation is very important," said IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath. "Now that the task of hauling the economy out of its slump is squarely the government's, central finances will have to come into focus. Can a burst of extra spending do it?" wrote an editorial in the Mint. Modi won the last election in 2019 by ensuring welfare program reached the poorest households, wrote Prof Ila Patnaik, and party workers carried that message to voters. Trouble is people get used to handouts and want new ones. Otherwise they may get annoyed.