A top Indian official claims the country has overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, in what would be a significant symbolic milestone. But while the comment has been seized upon with glee in India, experts say the celebrations may be premature.
The claim came from BVR Subrahmanyam, chief of the Indian government’s public policy think tank Niti Aayog. He told a televised press briefing on Sunday: “We are the fourth-largest economy as I speak. We are a $4 trillion economy as I speak, and this is not my data. This is IMF data,” he said. “India today is larger than Japan.”
