India has overtaken China to lead G20 economic growth from 2014 to 2026, driven by infrastructure investments and resilient expansion during global crises, marking a shift in economic power.
India has overtaken China to become the fastest-growing economy in the G20 over the 2014-26 period, according to data presented by Business Today. The comparison puts India’s compound annual growth rate in nominal US dollar terms at 6.1%, fractionally ahead of China’s 5.9%, with the Indian economy now approaching $4.15 trillion after more than doubling in size over the period.
The result stands out because it was achieved during a stretch marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, elevated inflation, supply-chain shocks and wider geopolitical tension. Business Today’s ranking places the United States third at 5.3%, followed by Saudi Arabia at 5.1% and Türkiye at 4.8%, with Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, the European Union and Canada rounding out the top 10. The paper also noted that India’s nominal dollar growth from 2004 to 2014 was 10.9%, but that pace was still only seventh in the G20 at the time, far behind China’s 18.3%.
Supporters of India’s recent performance point to an infrastructure-led growth model that has broadened physical capacity across the economy. LiveMint reported that the government’s effective capital expenditure, including grants to states for public assets, rose to ₹90.87 trillion in 2014-26 from ₹17.04 trillion in the previous decade. Other reporting points to a sharp rise in highway construction, rail electrification, metro expansion and airport capacity, alongside major programmes intended to improve logistics, connectivity and manufacturing.
That backdrop has helped strengthen India’s case as a major global growth engine, even if nominal dollar comparisons do not fully capture real output or living standards. Critics argue such rankings can be distorted by inflation, exchange-rate shifts and base effects, but the broader trend still suggests a clear change in India’s economic weight since the mid-2010s.
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