In India, inequalities are at their highest

Publishing date: 21 March 2024

Published in: lesEchos

Is India becoming a “Billionaire Raj”? That’s the concl of a report rel Mon by the World Inequality Lab, indicating that concentrated wealth in the hands of India’s elite had reached a historic peak. The study by Nitin Kumar Bharti of New York University shows that at the end of 2023, the richest 1% of Indians concentrated 40% of the cty’s wealth. Unheard of since 1961. This is in proportion more than US and Brazil, two very unequal ctys. The richest 1% also acct for 22.6% of income. A lvl not seen since 1922, when India was still under British rule. “The Billionaire Raj led by the modern bourgeoisie is now more unequal than the British Raj which was dominated by colonial forces,” pts out the report. The poorest 50% of Indians rep only 15% of income.
▪️Narendra Modi became PM in 2014 on a promise to bring dev and growth to all Indians. GDP growth has been sustained since the Hindu ldr came to power. It is even accelerating: the govt recently raised its forecasts for the current fiscal yr to 7.6% compared to 7.3% previously. But the maj reforms launched by Narendra Modi have widened the gap b/w the rich and the poor. The oppn accuses Modi of having mainly served the interests of billionaires.