New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that India will become the world’s fifth largest economy in 2019.

Jaitley said that India is expected to surpass Britain next year to become the fifth largest economy. “This year, in terms of size, we have overtaken France. Next year we are likely to overtake Britain. Therefore, we will be the fifth largest (economy),” he said.

India has the potential to be one of the top three economies of the world in the next 10-20 years, Jaitley added, as other economies in the world are growing at a much lesser rate.

The World Economic League Table (WELT) in 2017 had said that the Indian economy is expected to surpass that of Britain and France to become the world’s fifth largest in dollar terms in 2018 and third largest in 2032.

Earlier in February, Jaitley said India is expected to register a growth rate of 7.2-7.5% in the second half of the current fiscal. In a speech in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said, “We are now firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8% plus”. 

“Indian economy is now $2.5 trillion economy, seventh largest in the world," he had said, adding that the nation is expected to become the fifth largest economy very soon.