NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that India’s economy will be one of the three largest in the world within the next five years.
Wearing a multi-colored turban, Modi addressed the country from the Red Fort — a 17th-century building in New Delhi — to say that his government had lifted more than 130 million people out of poverty and that the growing prosperity of the country was an opportunity for the world.
“When poverty decreases in a country, the power of the middle class increases considerably,” he commented in his speech to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Asian nation’s independence. “In the next five years, I promise that India will be among the three largest economies in the world.”
S&P Global and Morgan Stanley last year predicted that India’s economy would surpass those of Japan and Germany to become the world’s third largest by 2030. They said India’s economic boom will be fueled by offshoring , investment in manufacturing, the growing digital infrastructure and the energy transition.
India’s $3.5 trillion a year economy surpassed Britain’s last year to become the fifth largest in the world. Modi expressed his confidence that by the time his country celebrates its 100 years of independence, in 2047, it will do so as a developed nation.
The government forecasts growth of between 6 and 6.5% this fiscal year, placing it among the fastest growing economies globally.
But despite steady economic growth, the Modi government has struggled to put an end to unemployment concerns and is under pressure to create enough jobs, especially ahead of a general election in 2024, in which the People’s Party Indio, to which Modi belongs, starts as a favourite.
