India's GDP will cross the $5 trillion mark by 2020: Report

New Delhi: Business information and knowledge provider Dun & Bradstreet on Friday forecasted that India's GDP will still cross the US$ 5 trillion mark by 2020 despite the economy slowdown, in its second edition of its publication, India 2020 - economy outlook.

The study evaluates the growth of the Indian economy in the current decade based on its strengths and weaknesses.

"India is expected to be more than US$ 5 trillion (current market price) economy by FY20, and reach close to Japan (in terms of GDP in US$) as of 2010," the report said. "We expect the current phase of subdued growth to continue till FY15 before the economy moves into a high growth phase," it added.

According to the report, investment activity is expected to accelerate, which will help the Indian economy grow faster. Share of investment to GDP is expected to increase to 40.7% of GDP by FY20 from 36.6% in FY10. Infrastructure will be both a cause and a consequence of economic growth during the current decade. Share of discretionary spending is likely to rise to 70% of the private final consumption expenditure by FY20, compared to 60.0% in FY11.

Dr. Arun Singh, senior economist at Dun & Bradstreet India said in a statement: "Subdued growth in the domestic economy owing to the culmination of domestic and global factors is likely to continue till FY15, after which we expect the Indian economy to embark on a high growth phase."

Dun & Bradstreet also says that investment in physical infrastructure is likely to lead to employment generation, increased production efficiency, reduction in cost of doing business and improved standard of living. The share of the private sector in infrastructure financing is expected to increase from 39.4% in FY12 to 48. % in FY20.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will be among the most progressed states in the country by FY20, while Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh which have been considered laggard in terms of development, are expected to begin leveraging their huge potential in terms of vast natural resources and manpower.