Delhi will have the fastest growth of any city in Asia, with the economy of the city-state likely to become almost 50% larger in 2021 than it was at the end of last year.

Indian cities are set to expand the most across the Asian region, with growth speeding up from the past five years, according to a new study from Oxford Economics, which has ranked Asia's 30 largest cities.

With financial and business services projected to be the fastest growing sector in India, the capital's dominance in this industry will lead to higher growth and higher incomes.

"Limits on foreign ow nership of Indian companies are gradually being reduced or eliminated," wrote Mark Britton, lead economist on the report. "In the short term, this is conducive to strong growth in Delhi's professional services sector, as overseas investors seek advice on possible deals, while in the long term, it should mean steady income streams for such businesses."

Consumer companies such as Japan's Muji are also betting on such a change. Muji's parent company , Ryohin Keikaku Co, sees India becoming its second largest international market, after China. There is also Amazon.com Inc's Indian unit, which is seeking approval to invest in a food supply chain and take advantage of government moves to ease rules on foreign retailers.

China's expansion is likely to slow, although the largest five cities there will still be recording growth rates of 6% or more. There will be a slight slowdown across the region amid moderating import demand from China, with growth expected to average 4.2% per year over the next five years up to 2021, down from 4.5% in 2012-2016.

Even so, that growth is still much faster than in the developed economies and cities in the region -and that's a big opportunity for companies. Starbucks Corp plans to almost double the number of stores it has in mainland China by 2021, while McDonald's Corp plans to add 2,000 new restaurants over the same period.

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