India’s inevitable ascent

Attendees filming a robot at the pavilion of India’s telecom company Airtel during the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. — Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times

INDIA, the world’s fastest-growing large economy for four years in a row, released data recently showing that it expanded at a rate of 7.5% last year, driven in part by strength in manufacturing.

Many economists, and India’s government, had expected India to become the world’s fourth-largest economy in 2025, overtaking Japan in size.