China's temperate environment was more suited to industrialization until postwar era, though this wasn't really relevant where it matters.

India used to be wealthier than China, due to war, Mao's chicanery and lack of exposure to western trade and industrialization. However after Deng Xiaoping's reforms in the late 70s GDP per capita quickly overtook India's and subsequently soared. India liberalized its economy in the early 90s and seems to be about 10 to 15 years behind China, about the same space of time, which might excite free market enthusiasts, but it is difficult to gauge how liberalized their markets were after the first attempts at reform.

We can see on the chart China achieved exponential growth in 2003 when they reached $1000, the stage where skilled educated workers rise to the lower-middle class and, freed from poverty, reinvest their surplus in the economy. 10 years later they had risen to $7000. However when India reached this stage around 2010, there was no such boom and the "superpower 2020" meme never panned out.

India's economic growth is the greatest event in its history. It has never been more free and prosperous, Indians today are earning far more than their parents could have dreamed. However they are still lagging behind relatively speaking.