India appears to be leapfrogging China to become the leading economy in the Asia-Pacific region and take top spots in world rankings. Not so long ago, India was recognized as the world's most populous nation. Now it has retained the position of the world's fastest-growing major economy amid substantial aid from developed countries.
It seems the West has found an alternative to China and is deepening trade and production ties with India, moving large production facilities to the country and opening representative offices there. In addition to favorable climate conditions, there is no need to adhere to the party policy, with market laws being in effect. Besides, investors and entrepreneurs do not fear reprisals from the authorities.
Thus, in its July outlook, the International Monetary Fund confirmed India's status as the world's fastest-growing major economy. The IMF upped India's GDP growth forecast for 2023 by 20 basis points to 6.1%, a 0.2 percentage point increase compared with the April projection. The upward revision reflected stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 amid increased domestic investment. The forecast for 2024 remained at 6.3%. Earlier, investment bank Goldman Sachs estimated that India could become the world's second-largest economy by 2075, with the country's GDP growing to $52.5 trillion.
