The richest 1% of India's population now own 40% of the country’s wealth

The World Inequality Lab found that the wealth held by the richest 1% of India's population is at its highest level in six decades, with their share of income surpassing that of countries like Brazil and the United States. Since India opened its markets to foreign investment in 1992, the number of billionaires in the country has surged.

The authors of the study, including Nitin Kumar Bharti and Thomas Piketty, noted that India's modern bourgeoisie, often referred to as the "Billionaire Raj," is now more unequal than the British Raj, which was led by colonialist forces.

By the end of 2023, India's wealthiest citizens owned 40.1% of the country's wealth, the highest since 1961, and their share of total income was 22.6%, the most since 1922.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elected in 2014 on a platform of development and economic reforms, has faced criticism for presiding over a widening gap between the rich and the rural poor. India's economy grew at 8.4% in the final three months of 2023, its fastest rate in one-and-a-half years.

The main opposition party, Congress, has raised concerns about the Modi government's closeness to billionaires ahead of national polls starting from April 16.

Factors such as lack of education have contributed to trapping some people in low-paid jobs, which has inhibited the growth of the bottom 50% and middle 40% of Indians, according to the World Inequality Lab.

Data from Forbes billionaire rankings show that the number of Indians with a net wealth exceeding $1 billion rose from one in 1991 to 162 in 2022. India's two richest individuals, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Gautam Adani of the Adani Group, are both Indian.

The top 10,000 wealthiest individuals among India's 92 million adults own an average of 22.6 billion rupees ($271.91 million) in wealth, which is 16,763 times the country's average. The top 1% possess an average of 54 million in wealth.

In December, the Indian government's chief economic adviser stated that subsidised grain distribution, spending on education and health, and direct cash transfers through a rural jobs scheme have helped to distribute income more equally.