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India overtakes UK to become world's sixth largest economy

New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Dec 21, 2016, 10:17 AM IST
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The Indian economy has burgeoned in the last 25 years after the government in 1991 decided to make the economy more market oriented. Photograph:(Reuters)

India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is set to surpass the United Kingdom for the first time in 150 years, Forbes said in a report on December 16.

The Indian economy was set to overtake that of UK's by 2020 but declining pound in the aftermath of the Brexit accelerated the economic relegation.

India's rapid economic growth in the last 25 years, coupled with Britain's economic stagnation, has resulted in the swapping of positions. The gap between the countries is expected to increase as India is tipped to grow between 6 to 8 per cent as against Britain's 1 to 2 per cent in the next three years.

Although India has pipped the country in absolute numbers, it is just 20 per cent of Britain's per capita terms.

"India may have a large population base but this is a big leap," Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of state for home affairs, said earlier this week.

A big leap it is as India was a British colony till 1947.

This is the second significant milestone India has achieved this year -- it earlier overtook China to become the fastest growing economy in the world.

US, China, Japan and Germany are the four largest economies in the world.

(WION)