Author: Aoife Moriarty
A new report by the Kotak Group and Ernst & Young claims that India’s ultra high net worths are set to quadruple their fortune over the coming four years.
Ultra high net worth households* are expected to increase their wealth fourfold from Rs. 104 trillion (£1 trillion) to 408 trillion (£4 trillion) between now and 2018, according to the research.
The in-depth survey also shows that India’s wealthiest will triple in number from 117,000 households in 2014 to a total of 343,000 households in four years’ time.
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According to the report, increased assurance in the economy and government – after the recent election – has led to UHNWs in India taking bolder investment risks in terms of private equity and real estate.
The country’s richest are also shopping with greater confidence, with luxury brands experiencing an uprecedented surge in sales. Jewellery, clothing and accessories are the most popular areas for everyday spending, according to the data.
The report was based on interviews with 150 ultra-high-net-worth-individuals, as well as interviews with luxury service providers and secondary research and analysis by Ernst & Young.
In India, the richest in society have assets worth one trillion dollars – roughly a fifth of the country’s total wealth.
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Murali Balaraman, co-author of the report, told The Guardian: “Cities are mushrooming, the middle class population growing, opportunities have increased manyfold and the political environment has improved greatly in recent months.”
However he insisted that the soaring net worths of the wealthiest would not create increased social tensions in the country, as the gap between the rich and the poor is “an accepted norm”.
*defined by the survey as those with a minimum net worth of Rs. 250 million (£2.45m)
