December 16-31, 2006

The wealth of the richest persons in the country has grown more rapidly over the past seven years than ever before.

In 1999, there were about 100 persons whose wealth was more that Rs 100 crore. Their total wealth amounted to Rs 83,800 crore. In 2006 the number of such super-rich persons has increased to 391, and their total wealth is Rs. 6,34,457 crore. In other words, the list of Indian billionaires (Rs 100 crore) has swelled by nearly four times and their total wealth by seven and half times. The degree of concentration of wealth is shown in the table below:

In 1999, the Ambani family’s wealth (father and two sons) was estimated as Rs 5,046 crore. In 2006, the wealth of the two brothers together amounts to Rs 100,230 crore. So the wealth of this richest family has multiplied by 20 times in seven years!

Today, there are as many as 22 people who are as rich as the Ambani family was in 1999.

Only one member of the Birla family figures amongst the 50 wealthiest people of the country. No member of the Tata family is in this list, because all their wealth is in the name of various trusts created by the family.

This list of the wealthiest of the country is incomplete because it is based only on the basis of publicly known assets. We all know a large part of their wealth is not declared. Wealth in the form of land owned by these rich families is difficult to estimate.

Many capitalist do not list their companies on the stock market so that they do not have to comply with any of the regulations. The largest owner of land in and around Delhi is KP Singh and family (known as DLF); no exact estimate of his wealth can be made as his company is not listed on the stock market. The price of the share of his company is not known and he does not tell how much land he owns. Similarly, the richest Parsee capitalist of the country, PS Mistry, does not list his company so his wealth remains a secret. He owns nearly one sixth of Tata Sons, the company which controls all other Tata companies.

As the concentration of wealth at the top increases, so does the domination of such super rich persons over the entire economy of the country. They set the economic policies. They decide the tax concessions and subsidies. They decide where and when foreign capital should be allowed and where it should not be. They decide when the BJP should be replaced by the Congress Party or vice versa.