NEW DELHI: Emergence of India as the sixth largest economy was very much expected but still there is a long way to go as the per capita income of the country is still low, Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said today.
The country, Kumar said, will have to develop capacity for intervening in the global stage in a meaningful manner as it is going to soon surpass the UK to become the fifth largest economy in the world.
"Very much expected. And this is result of our higher rate of growth. Soon we will overtake UK, that will be even better news.
"We will soon become the fifth largest economy in 2018 after the US, China, Japan and Germany. But our per capita income is still 20 times lower than France, so we cannot stop here," Kumar told PTI.
He further said that since now India is the sixth largest economy, so more and more will be expected from India on the global stage.
"So we will have make that necessary preparation and create those capacity where we can intervene in global stage in a meaningful way with a clear pursuit of our national interest.
"There, we will have to create our own model of thinking, our own model of strategic interventions,"the Niti Aayog vice chairman noted.
According to an analysis of data compiled by the World Bank, India emerged as the world's sixth largest economy in 2017 with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.59 trillion, surpassing France and likely to go past the UK.
The GDP of France stood at USD 2.58 trillion in 2017. The UK, which is facing Brexit blues, had a GDP of USD 2.62 trillion -- about USD 25 billion more than that of India.
Indian economy grew at a seven-quarter high of 7.7 per cent in the three months ended March 2018, helped by higher government spending and investment.
According to the IMF' World Economic Outlook released in April this year, the size of the Indian economy was pegged at USD 2.61 trillion, ahead of France with a GDP of USD 2.58 trillion.