“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 in New Delhi.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said India was expected to surpass Britain next year to become world’s 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 in New Delhi.

Other economies in the world were growing at much lesser rate but India had the potential to be among the top three economies of the world in the next 10-20 years, he said.

In an interview with The Hindu in July last ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.K., Jules Chappell, OBE, managing director, business at London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s economic development agency , said the Indian economy was growing very fast and Britain was making efforts to forge closer relations with India in very practical ways.

Read more: India’s economy is growing so quickly, U.K needs to react to it: Jules Chappell