International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde who is in India on a two-day visit said that India is likely to grow at 7.2% this year and at 7.5% next year.

Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister of India, during his Budget speech on February 28, 2015 said that India will clock 7.5% growth this year and next year it would cross 8% growth. Lagarde, however, feels that Jaitley's aims are too optimistic given ground realities.

She said that India is a bright spot in the cloudy global economy and its GDP will double by 2019 surpassing combined total of Japan and Germany. "Recent policy reforms and improved business confidence have provided a booster shot to economic activity," she said while speaking at a function in New Delhi.

Puncturing claims made by the Indian Government, she said, "Using India's new GDP series, the IMF expects growth to pick up to 7.2% this fiscal year and accelerate further to 7.5% next year -- making India the fastest growing large economy in the world."

Although, given the state of the global economy, India's growth rate still is impressive.

Lagarde said that India's growth rate is expected to exceed that of China this year and the time is right for India to become a key engine for global growth.

On world economy, she said, "More than six years after the global financial crisis, the recovery remains too slow, too brittle, and too lopsided. We have pared down our forecasts of global growth since last October, despite the boost from cheaper oil and stronger US growth."

While the global economy is expected to grow by 3.5% this year, and 3.7% next year, this is still below what could have been expected after such a crisis, she added.

(With agencies)