Oxfam India’s report on inequality in India released on Monday finds that just 5 per cent of Indians own more than 60 per cent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent of the population possess only 3 per cent of the wealth.
The report, “Survival of the Richest: The India story”, also says that between 2012 and 2021, 40 per cent of the wealth created in India has gone to just 1 per cent of the population and only a mere 3 per cent of the wealth has gone to the bottom 50 per cent, adding that the total number of billionaires in India increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 billionaires in 2022.
Read | FCRA violations: MHA recommends CBI probe against Oxfam India
The combined wealth of India’s 100 richest has touched $660 billion (Rs 54.12 lakh crore) — an amount that could fund the entire Union Budget for more than 18 months, the report stated.
“While the country suffers from multiple crises like hunger, unemployment, inflation and health calamities, India’s billionaires are doing extremely well for themselves. The poor, meanwhile, in India are unable to afford even basic necessities to survive. The number of hungry Indians increased to 350 million in 2022 from 190 million in 2018. The widespread hunger is resulting in 65 per cent of the deaths among children under the age of 5 in 2022, according to the Union Government’s submission to the Supreme Court,” Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India, said.
The wealth of the top 10 richest in India stands at Rs 27.52 lakh crore ($335.7 billion, an increase of around $110 billion which is an 32.8 per cent rise from 2021).
“Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3 per cent of the wealth. Its impact has been exceptionally poor diet, increase in debt and deaths. This is in stark contrast to the top 30 per cent, who own more than 90 per cent of the wealth, with the top 10 per cent owning more than 80 per cent of the wealth concentrated in the top three deciles. The wealthiest 10 per cent own more than 72 per cent of wealth, and the top 5 per cent own nearly 62 per cent of the total wealth, which is higher than the pre-pandemic years (2018-19), and the top 1 per cent own more than 13 times the wealth owned by the bottom half of the society, with nearly 40.6 per cent of the total wealth in India,” finds the report.
Oxfam adds that India has the world’s highest number of poor at 228.9 million. On the other hand, the total number of billionaires in India increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 billionaires in 2022.
“Before the pandemic, in 2019, the Central Government reduced the corporate tax slabs from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, with newly incorporated companies paying a lower percentage (15 per cent). This new taxation policy resulted in a total loss of INR 1.84 lakh crore and had a significant role in the 10 per cent downward revision of tax revenue estimates in 2019-20. To increase revenue, the Union Government adopted a policy of hiking the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and excise duties on diesel and petrol while simultaneously cutting down on exemptions. The indirect nature of both the GST and fuel taxes make them regressive, which invariably burdens the most marginalized,” it has said.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation reported that the all-India inflation rates based on both CPI (Consumer Price Index) (General) and CFPI (Consumer Food Price Index) were consistently higher in rural India (7.56 per cent than urban India (7.27 per cent) in September 2022.
“Though overall inflation declined in October, the gap between rural and urban inflation only widened, reaching nearly 2.5 times the gap in September 2022. Moreover, the weightage for “food products” in the inflation calculation is nearly double in rural India compared to urban India reflecting how food inflation in rural India has primarily driven the average increase in prices of commodities,” it added.
In 2020-21, the projected revenue foregone of the government in the form of incentives and tax exemptions to corporates is INR 1,03,285.54 crore.
Oxfam India has said that the failure to tax rich people and corporations fairly exacerbates inequality as governments then resort to taxing the rest of society more. Heavy reliance on consumption taxes like VAT “increases inequality and is regressive in nature because poor people pay a larger share of their incomes”.
The bottom 50 per cent of the population at an All-India level pays six times more on indirect taxation as a percentage of income compared to top 10 per cent, it has said.
Of the total taxes collected from these food and non-food items, 64.3 per cent of the total tax is coming from the bottom 50 per cent. A little less than two-third of the total GST is coming from the bottom 50 per cent, as per estimates, one-third from middle 40 per cent and only three to four per cent from the top 10 per cent.
FAQs
Oxfam India's report on inequality in India released on Monday finds that just 5 per cent of Indians own more than 60 per cent of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent of the population possess only 3 per cent of the wealth.
What is the new report of Oxfam on India? ›
India's top 1% owned more than 40.5% of its total wealth in 2021, according to a new report by Oxfam. In 2022, the number of billionaires in the country increased to 166 from from 102 in 2020, the report said.
How much of India's wealth is owned by the top 1%? ›
The 10,000 wealthiest individuals of the 92 million Indian adults own an average of 22.6 billion rupees ($271.91 million) in wealth, 16,763 times the country's average, while the top 1 per cent possessing an average of 54 million in wealth.
What is the Oxfam India's latest report survival of the richest the India story? ›
According to the Oxfam's Report “Survival of the Richest: The India story”, the richest 1% in India now own more than 40% of the country's total wealth, while the bottom half of the population together share just 3% of wealth between 2012 and 2021.
What percentage of people in India are wealthy? ›
The wealth concentrated in the richest 1% of India's population is at its highest in six decades and the percentage share of income exceeds that of countries including Brazil and the United States, research group the World Inequality Lab found.
What is the income of the top 1 percent in India? ›
The top 1 per cent earn on average Rs 5.3 million, 23 times the average Indian (Rs 0.23 million). Average incomes for the bottom 50 per cent and the middle 40 per cent stood at Rs 71,000 (0.3 times national average) and Rs 1,65,000 (0.7 times national average), respectively.
How much wealth is considered rich in India? ›
India is a vast country and divided into many states and some are Metropolitan cities and some are tier 1,2&3 so income may vary … I think in Metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai etc you should earn more than 5 lakhs a month and a net worth of 25 crores to called Rich.
How is India's wealth divided? ›
Richest 1% in India Control 40% of Wealth in the Country
The inequality gap widened after the economy's opening up in the early 1990s, but “between 2014-15 and 2022-23, the rise of top-end inequality has been particularly pronounced in terms of wealth concentration,” the researchers said.
Who is the top 1% richest person in India? ›
The top 10 richest people in 2024
| Name & India Rank | Global Rank | Net worth (US$) |
|---|
| #1 Mukesh Ambani | 11 | $115.8 B |
| #2 Gautam Adani | 18 | $86.2 B |
| #3 Savitri Jindal & Family | 32 | $39.8 B |
| #4 Shiv Nadar | 51 | $32.5 B |
7 more rowsJun 14, 2024
By the close of 2023, India's wealthiest citizens possessed 40.1 per cent of the nation's wealth, marking the highest level since 1961. Additionally, their share of total income stood at 22.6 per cent, the highest recorded since 1922.
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NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday registered a case against prominent NGO Oxfam India and it's office bearers for alleged violation of provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
What is the strategy of Oxfam India? ›
Oxfam India will fulfill its vision by empowering the poor and the marginalised to demand their rights, engaging the non-poor to become active and supportive citizens, advocating for an effective and accountable state and making markets work for poor and marginalised people.
Is Oxfam working in India? ›
As India's leading movement against discrimination, we will not rest until everyone in our country can live in a fairer, equal society, and leave injustice and discrimination behind forever. Oxfam has been in India since 1951.
Who is the richest ethnicity in India? ›
1. Parsis. Several Persians traveled to India at the time of the Muslim annexation of Persia to save their existences and their Zoroastrian belief. Although they were from Persia, people are beginning to consider them Parsis in our country India.
How rich is the average Indian? ›
In 2021, the majority of Indian adults accounted for wealth of 10,000 U.S. dollars or lesser. On the other hand, about 0.1 percent were worth more than one million dollars that year.
Is India a rich country or poor? ›
But we are still a poor country, Subbarao said, adding that India is now the fifth largest economy in the world, with the figure standing at USD 4 trillion. With a per capita income of USD 2,600, India is in the 139th position in the league of Nations in terms of per capita income.
What is the top 5 percent income in India? ›
🔹 Top 5%: A monthly salary of ₹1.2 lakhs or an annual salary of ₹14.4 lakhs (based on data from the Economic Survey of India 2020-21).
What is considered a good salary in India? ›
It translates to INR 12 lakhs per annum, which is a substantial amount of money in India and can provide a comfortable standard of living, especially in smaller cities or towns.
How much money is enough to live a luxury life in India? ›
That means the sweet spot in India could be about R24 lakh per annum or R2 lakh a month. That could go up every year with inflation. You cannot use all of the money for living life and spending. Even when you get to that stage, you must continue investing to counter inflation.
According to the report, of the total GST collected from these food and non-food items, 64.3% is collected from the bottom 50% income group and 3-4% from the top 10% income group. Thus, the percentage is not with respect to the total GST revenue but GST from only some selected items.
What did the 2016 Oxfam report indicate about the richest 62 individuals? ›
The statement that in 2016 the richest 62 individuals in the world owned as much wealth as the poorest half of the world's population, as reported by Oxfam, is indeed true. Oxfam's 2014 report claimed that the richest eighty-five people's wealth was the equivalent of that held by the poorest 3.5 billion people.
