The Report: India 2013

The world’s second-most-populous country and its largest democracy, India has received growing interest from international investors in recent years as a member of the BRICS grouping, while Indian firms have also been making headlines of their own with high-profile investments abroad. Although its GDP reached $1.85trn in 2012, making it the 10th largest economy globally in nominal terms, the country’s economic development remains uneven, and the gap between globally competitive service industries such as IT and business-process outsourcing and less developed areas like agriculture is huge. While growth has helped moved millions of Indians into the middle class in recent years, reducing poverty remains a central challenge for the country. Expansion is expected to continue in the near term, and the IMF has forecast GDP growth of 4.9% in 2012 and 6.0% in 2013.