570 Indians earn over Rs 100 crore a year; number of billionaires up 300% in 5 years

The club of India's ultra-rich just got a lot more crowded. The number of individuals reporting an annual income of Rs 100 crore or more rose to 576 in Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26, according to data shared by the Union Finance Ministry in Parliament. The figues for the same in AY 2024-25 was 415.The figures were provided by Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply on Monday (July 27), in response to a question on whether the government had observed an increase in the number of billionaires in the country.Five years ago, in AY 2021-22, only 142 taxpayers reported annual incomes of at least Rs 100 crore.The latest figure of 576 represents an increase of more than 300% in the country's highest-income taxpayers over the period.THE BILLIONAIRE CLUB OF INDIA IS GROWINGThe numbers have climbed steadily, albeit with a brief dip. They rose from 142 in AY 2021-22 to 301 in AY 2022-23, before slipping to 284 in AY 2023-24. The count then rebounded to 415 in AY 2024-25 and surged further to 576 in AY 2025-26.While the question in Parliament referred to "billionaires", the government clarified that it does not have an official definition of a billionaire.Instead, it relied on Income Tax Return (ITR) data of taxpayers reporting annual incomes of Rs 100 crore or more as a proxy for the country's highest-income earners.MoS Chaudhary noted that there is no statutory definition of the term "billionaire" either under the Income-tax Act, 2025 or under the former Income-tax Act, 1961.On the question of whether the government maintains data on the aggregate wealth of Indian billionaires and how it has changed over the past five years, Chaudhary replied that no such official data is maintained."The Wealth-tax Act, 1957 was abolished with effect from 01 April 2016, and the Government does not maintain data on aggregate wealth of taxpayers," Chaudhary said. THE RISING CONCERNS OF ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN INDIAOn concerns over rising inequality, in its written reply the Finance Ministry cited existing surveys instead of a separate study.The MoS cited the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24, which showed the Gini coefficient (a statistical tool used to measure economic inequality). According to the survey cited by the Finance Ministry, the rural Gini coefficient fell from 0.266 to 0.237, while the urban Gini coefficient declined from 0.314 to 0.284, indicating a narrowing gap in consumption inequality in rural and urban areas.The government also pointed to labour market data, saying the unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above fell from 3.6% in 2022 to 3.1% in 2025. The data released by the ministry further cited Niti Aayog estimates that showed multidimensional poverty declining over the past decade, with 24.82 crore people estimated to have moved out of poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23.MEASURES TAKEN BY INDIAN GOVT TO ADDRESS ECONOMIC DISPARITYThe Finance Ministry said it is addressing income and wealth inequality through a mix of tax measures and welfare programmes.The ministry said India's progressive income-tax structure requires individuals with very high incomes to pay an additional surcharge over and above the normal income tax.The government also highlighted tax incentives for employment, startups, cooperatives and infrastructure, along with flagship schemes such as PM Awas Yojana, PM Jan Dhan Yojana, PM-KISAN, Ayushman Bharat and Jal Jeevan Mission.The latest Income Tax Return data offers a rare official glimpse into India's growing pool of ultra-high-income earners, even as it stops short of revealing the full picture of wealth concentration.While the number of taxpayers reporting annual incomes of Rs 100 crore or more has risen at a rate of 300% in five years, the absence of official wealth data means the true scale of India's billionaire class remains unknown.- EndsPublished By: Avinash KateelPublished On: Jul 29, 2026 07:00 IST