India Moves Past France To Become Sixth Largest Economy In The World

India, which has been growing at a rapid pace, has surpassed France to become the sixth largest economy in the world, reports The Times Of India.

Quoting updated World Bank figures for 2017, the report said: "India's gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to $2.597 trillion at the end of last year, against $2.582 trillion for France".

India's economy rebounded strongly from July 2017, after several quarters of slowdown.

According to the report, manufacturing and consumer spending were the main drivers of the Indian economy last year, after a slowdown following key economic reforms of demonetisation and goods and services tax.

"India has doubled its GDP within a decade and is expected to power ahead as a key economic engine in Asia, even as China slows down," said the report.

According to the International Monetary Fund, India is projected to generate growth of 7.4 per cent this year and 7.8 per cent in 2019, boosted by household spending and a tax reform. This compares to the world's expected average growth of 3.9 per cent.

London-based think tank, Centre for Economics and Business Research, had earlier said that India would surpass both Britain and France this year in terms of GDP, and had a good chance of becoming the world's third-biggest economy by 2032.

At the end of last year, the UK was the world's fifth-biggest economy with a GDP of $2.622 trillion. The US is the world's top economy, followed by China, Japan and Germany.