0.012% Indians hold a third of national income

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Rich Growing Richer , poor becoming poorer: The Increase Is More Than 50% 2009 may have been a worst year for much of the country with slow growth and double digit food inflation, but India’s rich individuals were just over 120,000 in number, or 0.01% of the population, their combined worth is close to one- third of India’s Gross Income.Rich, in this context, are defined as those having assets of Rs 45 million or more, excluding residence, and other assets. According to the 2009 AP Wealth Report, at the peak of the recession in 2008, India had 84,000 rich with a “combined net worth of Rs 1500 billion. To put that figure in perspective, it was just under a third of India’s market capitalization, that is , the total value of all companies listed on the BSE as of end March 2008. The average worth of each rich was Rs 16.6 crore.To get a fix on just how rarefied a level it puts them in, we did some simple calculations that threw up shocking numbers, It would take an average urban Indian 2,238 years, based on the monthly per capita expenditure estimates in the 2007-8 NSS, to achieve a net worth equal to that of the average rich and that is assuming that this average urban Indian just addes all his income without using anything . A average rural Indian would have to wait a fair bit longer 3,814 years! India now has 126,700 rich, an increase of more than 50% over the last year number. While the figure for combined net worth is not available, arseems safe to assume that as a class not only have India’s rich recouped their 2008 losses, they have even made gains over their pre crisis (2007) positions. In 2007, 123,000 riches were worth a combined Rs 18000 million. Mean-while, in 2009 alone, an estimate 13.6 million more people in India became poor or remained in poverty than would have been the case had the 2008 growth rates UNDPESA . Also, an estimated 33.6 million more people in India became poor or remained in poverty over 2008 and 2009 than would have been poor had the pre crisis growth rates been maintained over these two years. The 2009 rich population in India is also expected to be more than three times its 2008 size by the year 2018, with emergent wealth playing a key role. what is your openion about India and your country.