New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- The hope that India's economy is headed for a comfort zone on overall investment got a boost from Monday's release of economic data. Gross fixed capital formation at current prices rose to 34.3% of GDP in the first quarter of 2026-27, a 2.9 percentage point on-year gain. Across all four quarters of fiscal 2025-26, that proportion was below 32% of GDP.

This year, however, the chance of getting within reach of the 'boom' level of 35%, last seen two decades ago (under the old data series), is looking up. That's heartening. The public versus private sector comparison of the pace of this updrive over the past five quarters, though, reveals no breakout of acceleration led by the latter.

Such an investment shift is awaite...