India on track to become third largest economy: Finance secy
New Delhi: India, which is registering fastest economic growth among top five global economies, is on track to become the third largest economy, finance secretary T.V. Somanathan said on Thursday. India is currently the fifth largest economy behind the US, China, Japan and Germany.
Speaking at a G20 event, Somanathan said that India’s growth rate, by any measurement, regardless of controversies on how it is measured, is much faster than the top five economies. “All four have lower growth rates than India and today, we can safely say that all four are likely to have lower growth rates than India in the foreseeable future," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Wednesday said at the BRICS summit in South Africa that India is the fastest growing major economy, despite global turbulence, and is set to be a $5 trillion economy soon.
Earlier this month, rating agency S&P Global said that it expects India’s GDP to grow 6.7% annually from FY24 to FY31, catapulting it from $3.4 trillion during the current fiscal to $6.7 trillion in FY31. However, it added that India will face macro challenges in the upcoming decade to turn traditionally uneven growth into a high and stable trend. India’s short-term economic growth will be driven by a 678.6 million strong labour force, though getting more women to enter the workforce will be pivotal for future growth, as only 22% women participated in the workforce as of 2022, S&P said in its report.
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