India to become 4th largest economy by end of 2025: NITI Member Arvind Virmani
New Delhi, May 26 (PTI): NITI Aayog member Arvind Virmani on Monday said India is set to become the fourth largest economy in the world by the end of 2025, an assertion which came days after NITI CEO BVR Subrahmanyam claimed India has already overtaken Japan to reach that spot.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released in April had said that India is expected to be the fourth largest economy in the world with a GDP of USD 4.19 trillion in 2025, ahead of Japan.
"India is in the process of becoming the fourth largest economy, and I am personally confident that will happen by the end of 2025 because we need (data) of all 12 months GDP to say that, you know, to assert that. So to say till then, it remains a forecast," Virmani told PTI.
Asked to comment on NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam's remark that India has become the fourth largest economy in the world, the eminent economist said: "So this is a complicated question, and I really do not know what the words anybody has used. Perhaps there was some word which was missed or something."
Citing IMF data, Subrahmanyam, last week, said that the size of the Indian economy today is larger than Japan's.
"We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy as I speak," the NITI Aayog CEO had said.
It is only the US, China and Germany which are larger than India, and if we stick to what is being planned and what is being thought through, in 2.5-3 years, we will be the third largest economy," Subrahmanyam had said.
Explaining further, Virmani said, "When we discuss the size of economies publicly, we generally use US dollar current prices."
Virmani further pointed out that 'when we compare economy, we generally do it in terms of annual GDP'.
Virmani said IMF in its WEO report released in April gave a precise number, which showed that India's GDP for the full year 2025, would become higher than that of Japan.
" I would say that I am pretty confident that that will happen, but the exact data will probably not be available till January or February, because we are talking about the whole year," he observed.
India's nominal GDP for 2025 (FY26) is expected to be USD 4.187 trillion marginally more than the likely GDP of Japan which is estimated at USD 4.186 trillion, the IMF had said.
According to IMF data, India's per capita income has doubled from USD 1,438 in 2013-14 to USD 2,880 in 2025.
The IMF in its WEO report also said the Indian economy is projected to grow at 6.2 per cent in 2025-26, slower than earlier estimated rate of 6.5 per cent, due to escalated trade tensions and global uncertainty.
"For India, the growth outlook is relatively more stable at 6.2 per cent in 2025, supported by private consumption, particularly in rural areas," the IMF had said.
According to the report, the global growth is projected at 2.8 per cent in 2025, lower by 0.5 percentage points estimated earlier. In 2026, the global economy is estimated to grow at 3 per cent.
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Man arrested for duping Delhi resident of Rs 2 lakh in online car sale fraud
New Delhi (PTI): Police have arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of Rs 2 lakh on the pretext of selling a second-hand car online, an official said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Aman Sethi, a resident of Shiv Puri Extension in east Delhi, allegedly impersonated an employee of a reputed online car sale platform to gain the victim's trust, the police said.
The case came to light after a complaint was lodged by Harish, a resident of Trilokpuri, following which an FIR was registered on April 16 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Sethi was arrested on Friday.
According to the complainant, the accused contacted the victim and offered to sell a second-hand car. He allegedly convinced him to transfer Rs 2 lakh as booking and processing charges.
After receiving the money, the accused neither delivered the vehicle nor refunded the amount and stopped responding to calls.
A police team conducted a detailed financial and technical investigation and traced the money trail to a bank account in the accused's name.
"Analysis of KYC details, account activity and digital footprints helped identify the suspect," a senior police officer said.
The police said the accused had vacated his known address and was evading arrest, but was eventually tracked down through technical surveillance and local intelligence after multiple raids in Delhi-NCR.
During interrogation, Sethi allegedly tried to mislead investigators but was confronted with evidence and subsequently arrested. Further probe revealed his involvement in a similar cheating case registered at the Krishna Nagar police station, indicating a pattern of such offences.
The police said the accused targeted people searching for second-hand cars online by posing as an employee of vehicle sale platforms, sharing photographs and details of vehicles, and demanding advance payments in personal bank accounts.
Two debit cards, two mobile phones and SIM cards allegedly used in the offence have been recovered from his possession, the police added.
