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India is quietly assuming the mantle of fastest-growing major emerging-market economy, but it is too small on economic parameters to replace China as a new global growth locomotive, a new report says.

According to global financial services firm BNP Paribas, the hope that India can replace China as a key locomotive of global demand is “misplaced”. China posted a 6.9 per cent GDP in the third quarter of this year to register its weakest growth since the 2009 global financial crisis. India is projected to grow faster than China in the near future.

As per Moody’s Analytics, India’s GDP grew in September quarter by 7.3 per cent, while for the full fiscal it would be 7.6 per cent. India’s GDP grew by 7.3 per cent in FY15. “Those hoping that a more buoyant India can effectively replace the ailing Chinese economy as a new global growth locomotive are likely to be disappointed, however, at least for the foreseeable future,” BNP Paribas said in a research note.

“Although India is fast approaching China in terms of absolute population, its much lower living standards mean its economy is around five times smaller than China’s. At market prices, Chinese GDP was a little over $10 trillion in 2014, while India’s was just over $2 trillion,” it added.

Moreover, the structure of Chinese and Indian economies are also very different. India’s service sector is proportionately much larger than China’s, while its investment and industrial-production shares are much lower, it said.

The report noted that infrastructure investment has surged to more than 20 per cent of Chinese GDP, but it is still in the single digits in India. Given the respective sizes, China’s annual spending on infrastructure in dollar terms is ten times more than India’s. The report further noted that Chinese commodity demand swamps India’s.