85% of India’s billionaires from upper castes, none from Scheduled Tribes: World Inequality Report
The increase in top-end inequality between 2014-15 and 2022-23 has been particularly striking.
A recent report by the World Inequality Lab highlights stark economic disparities in India, revealing that nearly 90% of the country’s billionaire wealth is concentrated among upper castes.
The report, titled “Towards Tax Justice and Wealth Redistribution in India,” shows that the top 1% of the population controls over 40% of the nation’s total wealth, indicating a significant rise in inequality between 2014-15 and 2022-23.
The report provides a detailed analysis of wealth distribution, showing that 88.4% of billionaire wealth is held by upper castes, while Scheduled Tribes (STs), one of the most marginalized communities, have no representation among India’s wealthiest individuals.
The disparity extends beyond billionaires; upper castes own nearly 55% of national wealth, as per the All-India Debt and Investment Survey for 2018-19.
Caste continues to influence access to essential resources like education, healthcare, and credit, which are crucial for entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Historically, Dalits were forbidden from owning land, limiting their economic advancement. The “State of Working India, 2023” report by Azim Premji University further highlights that Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes are underrepresented as enterprise owners despite their workforce participation.
Wealth inequality is evident across various metrics. According to the National Family Health Survey, only 12.3% of SCs and 5.4% of STs are in the highest wealth quintile, whereas a significant portion falls into the lowest wealth categories. The Other Backward Classes (OBC) community shows 16.3% in the lowest wealth category and 19.2% in the highest.
The report also indicates that India’s income and wealth inequality, which had decreased post-independence, began rising in the 1980s and has soared since the 2000s. By 2022-23, the top 1% control over 40% of total wealth, up from 12.5% in 1980, and they earn 22.6% of total pre-tax income, up from 7.3% in 1980. This rise in inequality has made India one of the most unequal countries globally.
According to current estimates, the top 10% of income earners require only ₹2.9 lakhs per year, whereas the top 1% require ₹20.7 lakhs. In comparison, the median adult earns only around ₹1 lakh, while the poorest have almost no income.
The poorest 50% gets only 15% of total national income, whilst the top 0.001% owns 17% of total wealth. This means that fewer than 10,000 people own approximately three times as much as the poorest half of the population.
