India to be largest eco by 2050: Citi

In view of its continuing robust growth, India is expected to be the world’s largest economy by 2050, surpassing China and the US, a Citi report said. “China should overtake the US to become the largest economy in the world by 2020, then be overtaken by India by 2050,” financial services group Citi said the report. The estimates are based on purchasing power parity (PPP), an economic growth indicator that takes into account the purchasing power of each country’s currency, instead of the prevailing exchange rate conversion. Indian economy is expected to be nearly $85.97 trillion on PPP basis by 2050 from $3.92 trillion in 2010, Citi said. Going by the report, India would surpass the US-—currently the world’s largest economy—to become the second largest by 2040. “We expect India to overtake Japan to become the third largest economy by 2015,” it noted. In terms of PPP, Indian economy—valued at $3.78 trillion—was at the fourth place in 2009. The country was behind the US, China and Japan, according to the World Bank. Citi pointed out that North America and Western Europe's share of world's real GDP (in terms of USD calculated on PPP basis) is expected to fall from 41% in 2010 to just 18% in 2050. During the same period, developing Asia’s share is predicted to rise from 27% to 49% in 2050. Citi emphasised that a number of major changes within a relative short time are required for India to meet future challenges.