“Survival of the Richest: The India Story” – An Oxfam Report on Inequality in India

Inequality in India has grown significantly, with the bottom 50% of the population possessing only 3% of the total wealth and 5% of Indians  owning more than 60% of the country's wealth.

Just 5% Of Indians Own  More Than 60 % Of The  Country’s Wealth While  The Bottom 50 % Of India’s  Population Possess Only  Three Percent Of Wealth. 

Oxfam's report "Survival of the Richest: TheIndia story" confirms the platitude "Rich are  getting richer and the poor are getting poorer."

Since the pandemic begun to Nov 2022, billionaires in India have seen their wealth surge by 121%, or INR 3608 Crore per day in real terms.

Approximately 64 percent of the total INR 14.83 lakh crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST), came from bottom 50 percent of the population in 2021-22, only 3 percent of GST came from the top 10 percent.

Oxfam urges the Union Finance Minister to implement progressive tax measures such as wealth tax in the upcoming Union Budget to combat inequality.

The number of hungry Indians increased to 350 million in 2022 from 190 million in 2018. The widespread hunger is resulting in 65 per cent of the deaths among children under the age of five in 2022.

The wealth of the top 10 richest can finance India's Union education budget for 26 years or can fund the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for 38 years.

Banks are complicit in this inequality, with brutal loan recovery measures employed on the poor and marginalized, while corporates are loaned INR 11.17 lakh crore, of which only 13% is recovered.

The Indian healthcare sector is also affected by inequality, with 63 million people pushed into poverty every year due to healthcare costs.

A minimum wage worker in rural India would take 941 years to earn what the top paid executive at a leading Indian garment company earns in a year

Many ordinary Indians are not able to access the necessary healthcare, with 63 million of them pushed into poverty every year due to healthcare costs, almost two people every second.

There are 119 billionaires in India. Their number has increased from only 9 in 2000 to 101 in 2017. Between 2018 and 2022, India is estimated to produce 70 new millionaires every day.

Oxfam calls for progressive tax measures such as wealth tax and inheritance tax to be implemented to redistribute wealth and fund universal public services, climate adaptations, and innovations.

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