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August 2011

Rich getting richer: 120k Indians hold a third of national income.

By Raman Jokhakar, Tarunkumar Singhal, Chartered Accountants
Reading Time 1 mins
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Last year may have been a cruel year for much of the country with slow growth and doubledigit food inflation, but India’s high net worth individuals (HNWIs) prospered — just over 1,20,000 in number or 0.01% of the population their combined worth is close to one-third of India’s Gross National Income.

HNWIs, in this context, are defined as those having investable assets of $ 1 million or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables.

According to the 2009 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report, brought out by financial services firms Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, at the peak of the recession in 2008, India had 84,000 HNWIs with a combined net worth of $ 310 billion. To put that figure in perspective, it was just under a third of India’s market capitalisation, that is, the total value of all companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange — as of end-March 2008. The average worth of each HNWI was Rs.16.6 crore.

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