NEW YORK - India is catching up to China as an top growth market for Western QSR brands, Nation€™s Restaurant News reports. Conditions in the country are ripe for it to takeover China as the hottest market for restaurant growth, according to Sara Senatore, a securities analyst for Bernstein Research.

Analysts predict that India€™s economy will likely pass China by 2014, a move that has not gone unnoticed by Dunkin€™ Donuts, McDonald€™s, Starbucks and Yum! Brands. "The focus on the Indian foodservice market has intensified," wrote Senatore in a new research note.

"At $13 billion, the Indian market for fast food is just less than one-fifth that of China€™s, but it is growing fully 4 percentage points faster €" 19% annually versus 15% in China," Senatore wrote. "Importantly, fast-food growth has consistently outpaced income growth in India by a factor of 50%, as Indian consumers disproportionately allocate incremental income to luxury goods like Westernized food."

Recently, McDonald€™s and Yum informed investors that they would focus on increasing their presence in India, with Dunkin€™ Donuts and Starbucks set to open their first units there later in 2012. "Unlike in China, where the population bulge sits in middle age, India€™s largest population cohorts are its youngest," wrote Senatore. "Because eating habits are established at a fairly young age, this bodes well for growth. Young consumers cite taste, variety and limited time as reasons to eat fast food; we anticipate that these factors will only grow with time."