The Indian Century is a neologism suggesting that the 21st century may be dominated by India, as the 20th century is often called the American Century, and the 19th century British Century. The phrase is particularly used in the assertion that India's economy could overtake the economies of the United States and the economy of China as the largest national economy in the world, echoing its 23% share of the world economy in the mid-18th century, and up from a 3% share at the end of British rule.

Debates and factors

According to the report named "Indian Century: Defining India's Place in a Rapidly Changing Global Economy" by IBM Institute for Business Value, India is predicted to be among the world's highest-growth nations over the coming years.

As per a report released by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and McKinsey & Company titled "India’s Century – Achieving sustainable, inclusive growth", India has the potential to become an "economic superpower" before its 100th year of Independence (2047).

India is a member of Build Back Better World and has also created North–South Transport Corridor as an alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative policy initiative of China (PRC), to link in with Iran, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. In 2017, India and Japan joined together to form the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor in order to better integrate the economies of South, Southeast, and East Asia with Oceania and Africa. India also engages in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and in Malabar (naval exercise) as part of a China containment policy.

Top five countries by military expenditure in 2023

One of the key factors includes its populous democracy. According to a United Nations report, India overtook China to become the world's most populous nation in 2023. Its size and location in Asia and the Indian Ocean poises it to play a significant role in matters around the world, as demonstrated during its time in the British Empire, though this history is also a factor in China's opposition to India's rise.

Economists and researchers at Harvard University have projected India's 7% projected annual growth rate through 2024 will continue to put it ahead of China, making India the fastest growing major economy in the world. In 2017, the Center for International Development at Harvard University published a research study projecting that India has emerged as the economic pole of global growth by surpassing China and is expected to maintain its lead over the coming decade.

India has very recently been considered either a major great power or to be emerging as such (well beyond middle powers) and is generally considered an emerging superpower due to its large and stable population and its rapidly growing economic and military sectors.

Data

GDP (nominal) past and forecasts

The top 15 largest economies in the world (GDP nominal from 1990-2030 in billions USD)
Country1990Country2000Country2010Country2020Country2030
United States5,963United States10,250United States15,048United States21,354United States37,153
Japan3,185Japan4,968China6,138China15,103China25,827
Germany1,604Germany1,967Japan5,759Japan5,054India6,769
France1,260United Kingdom1,668Germany3,470Germany3,936Germany5,575
United Kingdom1,197France1,361France2,648United Kingdom2,698Japan4,994
Italy1,164China1,220United Kingdom2,487India2,674United Kingdom4,955
Canada596Italy1,150Brazil2,208France2,645France3,754
Iran581Canada744Italy2,146Italy1,905Canada2,792
Spain536Mexico742India1,675South Korea1,744Italy2,779
Brazil455Brazil655South Africa1,633Canada1,655Brazil2,679
China397Spain598Canada1,617South Africa1,488South Africa2,384
Australia324South Korea597Spain1,429Brazil1,476Spain2,201
Netherlands321India468Australia1,254Australia1,362Australia2,181
India320Netherlands417South Korea1,192Spain1,288Mexico2,151
Mexico307Australia400Mexico1,105Mexico1,121South Korea2,149

See also

Further reading

  • The Guardian.
  • Time
  • The Economic Times.
  • Harvard Business Review
  • The New York Times
  • Dirks, Nicholas (2008) The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain. Belknap Press ISBN 978-0-674-02724-4.
  • Durant, Will (1930) The Case for India. New York: Simon and Schuster.
  • Gupte, Pranay (29 December 2013). . Deccan Chronicle.
  • Kennedy, Paul (1989) The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-679-72019-5.
  • Lak, Daniel (2009) India Express: The Future of the New Superpower. Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 0-230-61759-X.
  • Luce, Edward (2008) In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India. Anchor ISBN 978-1-4000-7977-3.
  • Marks, Robert (2007) The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers ISBN 978-0-7425-5419-1.
  • McKinsey & Company Inc. (2013) Reimagining India: Unlocking the Potential of Asia's Next Superpower. Simon & Schuster ISBN 978-1-4767-3530-6.
  • Meredith, Robyn (2008) The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us. W. W. Norton & Company ISBN 978-0-393-33193-6.
  • Parthasarathi, Prasannan (2011) Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not : Global Economic Divergence, 1600–1850. Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-0-521-16824-3.
  • Rothermund, Dietmar (2008) India: The Rise of an Asian Giant. Yale University Press ISBN 978-0-300-11309-9
  • Sieff, Martin (2010) Shifting Superpowers: The New and Emerging Relationships between the United States, China and India. Cato Institute ISBN 978-1-935308-21-8.
  • Smith, Jeff (2013) Cold Peace: China-India Rivalry in the Twenty-First Century. Lexington Books ISBN 978-0-7391-8278-9.
  • Tharoor, Shashi (2012) Pax Indica: India and the World of the Twenty-First Century. Penguin Global ISBN 978-0-670-08574-3.

External links

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