India’s richest 1% own more than 40% of total wealth: Oxfam

• The combined wealth of India’s 100 richest persons reached Rs 54.12 lakh crore in 2022
• Number of billionaires in India increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022
• The total wealth of the 10 richest Indian stood at Rs 27.52 lakh crore in 2022, a 32.8% rise from 2021.

Oxfam India in a report released on Monday revealed that India’s one per cent richest control more than 40 per cent country’s wealth, adding that the top 21 billionaires have more wealth than 70 crore Indians.

In 2022, the wealth of India’s richest man Gautam Adani increased by 46%, while the combined wealth of India’s 100 richest had touched $660bn, reported BBC. “India is unfortunately on a fast track to becoming a country only for the rich,” Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar said. “The country’s marginalised – Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, women and informal sector workers are continuing to suffer in a system which ensures the survival of the richest.”

The report – Survival of The Richest – was released as the World Economic Forum began in Davos, Switzerland.

The report further highlighted that the country’s top five per cent own 61.7 per cent of the total wealth, nearly 20 times more than the 3 per cent owned by the bottom half.

The billionaires’ fortunes increased by almost 10 times over the decade and their total wealth is higher than the entire Union budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19, which was at Rs 24,422 billion, according to the report.

The total number of billionaires in India increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022 while the combined wealth of India’s 100 richest has touched USD 660 billion ( ₹54.12 lakh crore), an amount that could fund the entire Union Budget for more than 18 months.

According to the report, taxing the top 100 Indian billionaires at 2.5 per cent, or taxing the top 10 Indian billionaires at 5 per cent would nearly cover the entire amount required to bring the children back into school.

Oxfam said the report is a mix of qualitative and quantitative information to explore the impact of inequality in India.

Oxfam India urged the Union finance minister to introduce one-off solidarity wealth taxes and windfall taxes to end crisis profiteering. It also demanded a permanent increase in taxes on the richest 1 per cent and especially raise taxes on capital gains, which are subject to lower tax rates than other forms of income.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM