Is India going to be the next China?

(Oct 6): India has the potential to boost consumption of everything from copper to iron ore as its economy expands over the next two decades and more people flock to its cities, according to projections from the Australian government that try to fathom whether the country will emulate China.

“Like China since the start of this century, India is in the midst of a huge wave of urbanization, the scale of which has few parallels in history,” the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science said in a quarterly report on Friday. India’s urban population may swell from about 439 million in 2016 to 642 million by 2035, or by 10 million people a year, it said.

The expansion of India’s economy is drawing rising interest from resource-rich exporters including Australia, the worlds largest shipper of iron ore, as well as mining companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd. keen for new opportunities as the pace of China’s growth cools. According to the Australian study, while India’s development is likely to be less resources-intense than China’s, there’s still significant scope for increases in commodities consumption.

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