India Today Conclave 2024: WEF President ‘bullish’ on India’s $10 trillion economy goal

His statement came during the India Today Conclave 2024 in New Delhi.

“On India, we are very bullish. This is not just this year and next year. We foresee that India will be growing for the next 25 years, provided that the reforms continue,” Brende said, highlighting that the country’s growth also supports the rest of the world.

“Many would be surprised to learn that 15 per cent of all global growth last year came from India,” he added.

Brende expects India to meet its goal of becoming a $10 trillion economy in the next decade, adding that the country is slated to become the world’s third-largest economy “very soon”.

He said that 50 per cent of the global growth comes from emerging economies and will continue for the next decade. Brende added that from 2040, emerging economies will be accounting for 60 per cent of global growth, with India leading from the front.

“So, this is like a snowball. A snowball is small at the beginning, but when it starts to roll, it gets bigger and then it rolls faster. And that is India today,” Brende said.

On what’s driving India’s growth

He attributed India’s growth to multiple factors, including geopolitics, youth surplus and global supply chain changes.

“There is a change in the global value chains, so a lot of companies are establishing themselves, producing and manufacturing in India. Secondly, you have so much of a youth surplus, you have one of the youngest populations in the world,” he said.

He also highlighted India’s strong growth to fiscal prudence, highlighting that it is “extremely important”.

On what more can be done to drive India’s growth, he said there should be more efforts towards getting rid of red tape, more investments towards infrastructure development and spending more towards education.

The WEF President also highlighted manufacturing as another key area where India needs to focus on.

He said, “To be a real hub for manufacturing, you see that in China, 30 per cent of all global manufacturing is happening there. We are seeing more companies establishing themselves in India too, but I think you also have to look at the tariffs.”

“All this is gradually happening and that’s why we are seeing the growth,” he added..