India, Sept. 19 -- Economic commentary in the past couple of weeks in India has been dominated by the debate around the veracity of its GDP numbers. The debate, triggered by the 7.8% GDP growth in the quarter ending June -- the number itself wasn't a surprise, and was in the region of estimates by professional forecasters -- was more rhetorical than technical. Even some critics conceded that the GDP numbers were technically sound.

Then came the inflation data for August, which was also on expected lines. Understanding India's economic challenges at the present moment, requires taking a slightly longer-term view than getting bogged down with growth and inflation data. Here are some data points which try and put things in perspective.

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