BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: India is among the eight Asia-Pacific markets, which are part of the 20 fastest growing markets in terms of its population of high net worth individuals (HNWIs). Other markets include Hong Kong, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Singapore. The total wealth held by India’s high HNWIs, who have investible assets in excess of $1 million (Rs 4.9 crore) was $582 billion (Rs 28.59 lakh crore) during 2010. This is equivalent to 34.23% of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.7 trillion (Rs 73.07 lakh crore), as per the latest government data.
India’s elite have a networth equivalent to more than a third of its total GDP and their numbers grew by one-fifth in 2010, according to the Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released on Thursday by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini.
India also has the highest number of billionaires in the age group of 31 to 45 as against Japan and Hong Kong, which have HNWIs above 66 years of age. “The key drivers of wealth in India is the real GDP expansion by 9.1% in 2010, and the market capitalisation, which increased by 24.9% in 2010,” says Pradeep Dokania, managing director and chairman, Global Wealth and Investment Management, India DSP Merrill Lynch limited.
The second reason is the national savings as a percent of the GDP increased to 33.5% in the year 2010. “Peaking inflation could give a negative impact on the household savings and could also have a negative effect on the rising number of HNWIs in India,” said Dokania.
