India to keep seat in '7% Club': Report

India is set to keep its seat in the seven per cent club of consistently fast-growing economies in the current decade, according to a report by Standard Chartered Bank.

The ‘7% Club’ comprises economies which have achieved annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth of at least seven per cent for an extended period. India has been a member of the club since 1995 and is one of the 10 countries, including China and Indonesia, which are likely to stay in the club in the new decade, according to the report.

At seven per cent per annum growth, an economy doubles in size every decade and more than quadruples in a generation. After three decades, an economy growing at seven per cent per annum will be twice as large as one achieving five per cent.

“The proportion of the world’s population in the 7% Club has never been higher; more countries have a chance to join in the coming decade. This is great news for living standards, but also has huge potential implications for resources, pollution, climate change and inflation,” said the author of the report, John Calverley, head of Thematic Research Standard Chartered Bank, Toronto.

The concept of the 7% Club was intended to be a counterpoint to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) analysis. The BRIC acronym was coined by economist Jim O'Neill.