"Snowball Effect": How World Economic Forum Chief Sees India Growth Story

India is currently seeing an "exponential growth" and can end up a "10 trillion US dollar economy maybe in a decade," Borge Brende, the President of the World Economic Forum told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. Speaking to NDTV from Davos, where the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is in progress, Mr Brende likened the India growth story to a snowball, which 'grows bigger and bigger' once it is given a push.  

"We expect things will continue with reforms, there is also peace, no conflict, there is transparency, fight against red tape, investment, R&D, and infrastructure,' he told NDTV.  

Asked what could be the key drivers for Indian growth in the days to come, he said what is working for India now is that it is "positioned in areas where the demand grows faster than in other areas... India is capitalizing on this".  

Drawing the contrast with the Chinese economy, which is entirely based on manufacturing, Mr Brende said India needs to intensify its focus on its services industry, digital trade and e-commerce.

While digital trade is only 15 per cent of the global economy, it grows twice as fast as any other trade area, he said.  

But while India is "incredibly successful economy for the time being," it has to continue with the reforms, Mr Brende pointed out, since there is "no such thing as free lunch".

Asked whether the border tension with China is a concern, Mr Brende said everyone is watching it "very closely".

"But I don't think there is any interest in the Indian or Chinese side to escalate it because that would be very unfortunate".

The annual report of the WEF has focused on the multiple challenges the world is facing today -- including wars and the ongoing struggles with living expenses and the escalating effects of climate change.