New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS): India will become a $4 trillion economy before the Lok Sabha elections and in 2 to 2.5 years, it will touch the $5 trillion GDP mark, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

“India will have the third largest GDP in the world latest by 2027, as per every street estimate," Goyal said at the launch of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Utsav in the national capital.

The Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held around April-May this year.

The minister appears to have raised the forecast for the GDP, as official estimates until now expect the economy to touch $3.7 trillion mark at the completion of the current financial year ending April 31, 2024.

The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook data for GDP projections of countries up to 2028 forecasts India’s GDP at $4.95 trillion in 2026.

India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world and had posted a robust growth rate of 7.6 per cent in the July-Sept quarter of the current financial year (FY24). This has prompted the IMF and the RBI to raise their growth forecast for the Indian economy as well.

Goyal also said, "Aatmanirbhar Bharat does not mean India is anti-imports. We will increase our exports and for that if we require to import some products, we will do so."