a bit optimistic - but caution serves well...

India’s $100,00-plus folks set to multiply

Salary cuts, job losses and a slowdown are now part of the post-reform reality in the country’s economy, but there is a flip side to the story that shows underlying economic strength.

The number of Indian affluent households with wealth in excess of $100,00 is set to rise to 29 million in the next eight years as compared to a mere 2.1 million estimated at present, a report jointly prepared by Barclays Wealth and Economist Intelligence Unit has said.

Indian households typically hold more than half of their savings in physical assets such as land, houses, cattle and gold.

The research also shows that property currently accounts for around 43 per cent of overall household wealth in India.“India with a population of 1 billion today has about 2.1 million high net worth households but this is set to increase significantly and this will also give a push to private banking in the country, which is currently at a nascent stage,�


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