India becomes world's fourth largest economy

New Delhi: India has overtaken Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) BVR Subrahmanyam said, citing data by the International Monetary Fund at a press conference of the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting on Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047. “We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy as I speak, and this is not my data. This is IMF data. India today is larger than Japan," said BVR Subrahmanyam.

He further stated that India may soon surpass Germany and become the third-largest economy in the world. "It's only the United States, China, and Germany which are larger, and if we stick to, you know, what is being planned, what is being thought through, it's a matter of another 2, 2.5 to 3 years; we would become the third largest economy,” Subrahmanyam added.

The April edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report by the IMF mentioned that the nominal GDP for fiscal year 2026 is estimated to touch nearly $4,187.017 billion, slightly more than the GDP of Japan, projected at $4,186.431 billion. Till 2024, India was the fifth-largest economy across the globe. The IMF also expects that India will be the fastest-growing major economy in the next two years. The Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026, higher than global and regional counterparts, according to the World Economic Outlook report.

Meanwhile, the IMF predicts global economic growth at 2.8 per cent in 2025 and 3.0 per cent in 2026, much lower than India's estimates.