The 2022 M3M Hurun Global Rich List shows that over the last few years, wealth creation by India Inc. has catapulted the economic growth in the country, says Pankaj Bansal, Director, M3M India.
Speaking after the launch of the list, he said that 59 per cent of the country’s billionaires are self-made. Also, gender inclusivity and equality has been a noticeable theme with women outranking men across industries.
Real estate engine
The real estate sector is ranked third amongst major sectors in India and the second largest in terms of employment generation. This sector is also looking forward to contribute 13 per cent to the GDP by 2025 and reach a market size of $1 trillion by 2030.
“No wonder, the sector contributed 8.1 per cent to the overall list of billionaires and boasts a concentration of 275 billionaires. This should see a significant jump in the next five years owing to unmet housing demands generated by urbanisation and modernisation of towns,” Bansal pointed out
“We are hopeful that 2022 will ignite economic buoyancy in the country and will enable us to match steps with our global counterparts. More so when India is gaining momentum in startups and unicorns, and has become third largest ecosystem in the world only after US and China.”
‘India, a rocket ship’
Anas Rahman Junaid, Managing Director and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said the 2022 M3M Hurun Global Rich List demonstrates the positioning of Indian wealth creation when compared to rest of the world. The list evidences that India is a rocket ship when it comes to wealth creation.
For instance, India ranks third based on not only the number of billionaires but also in terms of number of billionaires who have added at least a billion dollars to their wealth. Of the 34 billionaires living outside of India, the preferred residences were the US, the UAE and the UK.
Mumbai and New Delhi are amongst the top three cities with the fastest-growing number of billionaires in the world. The 215 Indian billionaires hail from 21 cities. To give a perspective, billionaires from the US, China and Germany hail from 240, 135 and 68 cities respectively, Anas said.
Rapid urbanisation
“India’s plutocratic makeover has some catching up to do when it comes to geographic spread. Some of the Government projects such as the Smart-City initiative, Digital India and so on will catalyse rapid urbanisation that could accelerate wealth distribution across the country,” explains Anas.
The year was also a moment of reckoning for India’s startup ecosystem that witnessed major startup IPOs, including four companies in the Hurun Global Unicorn Index. Last year’s 2021’s IPO story began with a bang but fizzled out towards the end owing to bubble concerns. Ten tech companies that listed in 2021 cumulatively lost $23billion (₹1.72 lakh crore) since listing, resulting in a momentary pause to the IPO run.
Doubling every 5 years
According to Anas, India’s billionaires have been doubling every five years, with now more than 200 residing within the country. Interestingly, in comparison, five years ago the proportion of NRIs in the latest list have almost halved compared with onshore billionaires.