While it is certainly a reason to celebrate that India has become the world’s fourth-largest economy, this economic milestone is only part of the story.
Beneath the uniform and the gallantry award was a man of rare humility. There was no trace of bravado in Colonel Sonam Wangchuk, no attempt to wear his achievements on his sleeve.
We now live in a world order that will keep shifting. India must use this window. This also means we remain disciplined enough not to be knee-jerked into reacting to what Pakistan sees as its moment in the sun.
What is most remarkable to me about India’s GDP growth is not that it’s now the fourth largest in GDP terms, but that it outpaced the IMF’s November 2024 projection that India would pass Japan’s GDP in 2 years, so around November 2026. The robustness of the growth can be seen in the fact that India became the 4th largest in just 6 months of IMF’s projection. That is ~80% sooner than projected.
Read that and none the wiser as to the size of the challenge so I went to the IMF. Here it is:
GDP per capita PPP (IMF-2025):
1. USA: I$89,100;
2. RoKorea: I$65,000;
3. EU: i$64,500;
4. Japan: i$54,700;
5. Turkey: I$43,000;
6. PRoChina: I$29,000;
7. Mexico: I$25,000;
8. Brazil: I$23,000;
9. Egypt: I$22,000;
10. Iran: I$20,000;
11. Algeria: I$18,000;
12. Indonesia: I$17,600;
13. Vietnam: I$17,500;
14. S.Africa: I$16,000;
15. India: I$12,100;
16. Morocco: I$11,200;
16. Bangladesh: I$10,200;
What is most remarkable to me about India’s GDP growth is not that it’s now the fourth largest in GDP terms, but that it outpaced the IMF’s November 2024 projection that India would pass Japan’s GDP in 2 years, so around November 2026. The robustness of the growth can be seen in the fact that India became the 4th largest in just 6 months of IMF’s projection. That is ~80% sooner than projected.