Indian economy climbs to become the fifth largest economy in the world, yet millions go hungry

Once branded a "third world country", a term used for poor developing countries, India is now among the largest economies of the world.

- Tushar K Mahanti

It is the world's fifth largest economy by nominal GDP and the third largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). India has emerged as the fastest-growing major economy in the world, and is expected to be one of the top three economic powers globally over the next decade, backed by its robust democracy and strong partnerships.

India celebrated its 75th year of independence on 15th August, 2022. The journey of its economic evolution over the last 75 years has been marked by significant milestones and reforms that enabled it to achieve substantial progress in many areas including rise in income levels, agriculture, literacy, infrastructure and a wide variety of other economic indicators.

Income growth

India’s journey of economic evolution began with the First Five-Year Plan in 1951 whose main focus was to develop the core industrial sector of the country. The focus changed with time and the concept of a five year plan was discontinued after the Twelfth Plan (2012-17).

There may have been diverse arguments about the success of these plans, but the fact remains that the Indian economy grew and a number of core sector industries, which acted as a growth multiplier, came up in subsequent years. The gross domestic product, the monetary measure of all goods and services produced in a country in a year, rose from `2.79 lakh crore (at constant prices) in 1950-51 to an estimated `147.36 lakh crore in 2021-22. India's economy, currently at $3.17 trillion, is the fifth largest economy in the world in 2022. At the time of Independence, India accounted for only three per cent of the world’s GDP; in 2021, it’s share was 9.5% of world GDP (Source: IMF).