India to Become Fastest-Growing Big Economy

India is on course to overtake China to claim the position as the world’s fastest growing, big economy in the next two years, the World Bank said Tuesday, the latest vote of confidence in the roadmap set out by the new leaders of the South Asian nation to revamp the economy.

The Washington-based development institution raised its forecasts for India, saying growth in Asia’s third-largest economy would accelerate in the coming years even as much of the world is slowing down. What might be the reason? New Delhi is implementing changes that will make the country’s economy more efficient and vibrant.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in May after his party won a rare majority in Parliament on a campaign promising smaller government and bigger growth. Since taking office, he has unveiled ambitious plans to change how India’s economy is managed.

India has been struggling to emerge from China’s shadow for more than a decade but in 2017 it may at last outgrow its neighbor to the north, expanding 7.0% that calendar year while China’s growth slows to 6.9%.  Some other economists–including those at Goldman Sachs—predict India could outpace China as early as next year.

Of course the end of 2017 is still a long way away and a lot of things will likely change in the interim to force economists to fix their forecasts. In India, they will be watching closely to see if the country continues to tweak laws and regulations to give companies and consumers more confidence to invest and help the economy expand.