A French Institute- Ined, projected that the world's population will rise to 9.7 billion in 2050 from the current 7.1 billion. Also in 2050, India is set to be the most populous country at 1.6bn, ahead of China (1.3bn). Parallel to forecasts by the UN and other prominent institutes, the study projected 10-11bn people inhabiting earth by the century's end.