Indian economy can be world's third largest by 2025: PM

The Indian economy has been growing at a near-9 per cent growth rate for most of the 11th Plan period and if this trend continues, the country will emerge the third largest economy in the world by 2025, prime minister Manmohan Singh said today.

While some of the other Asian economies have achieved over 9 per cent growth much before, India's slow evolution has been due to "our gradualist approach," he said.

Although it took time for the country's economic reforms to have an impact, it is now clear that their impact has been remarkable. "India has been transformed into one of the fastest growing emerging markets in the world. If we can continue to grow at this rate, we are well positioned to be the country with the third largest GDP in the world by 2025," the prime minister said.

He was addressing the golden jubilee calibrations of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) at Kolkota today.

The transformation from a sluggard with an economic growth rate below the population growth rate two decades ago, India's transformation has been achieved through a comprehensive, but gradual programme of economic reforms, he pointed out.

The reforms programme has been preserved all through these years despite changes in governments at the centre. "There have been differences of emphasis but the direction has remained the same. Most state governments have also acted in the same spirit," the prime minister said.