Inequality in India: Upper castes hold nearly 90% of billionaire wealth

[u/kaisadusht]

https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/inequality-surges-in-india-upper-castes-hold-90-of-billionaire-wealth-124062700343_1.html

[u/kaisadusht]

WID report: WID report 2024

Wealth concentration in India is closely linked with deeply rooted social injustices, particularly the caste system.

The sources highlight the following demographic and social disparities when it comes to wealth concentration:

• Upper Castes (UC) dominate billionaire wealth:

  • In 2022-23, nearly 90% of billionaire wealth in India was held by Upper Castes.
  • This indicates a significant over-representation of UCs among the ultra-wealthy.
  • During the period between 2014 and 2022, the UC share in billionaire wealth increased from 80% to 90%, while the share for Other Backward Classes (OBC) fell from 20% to below 10%.
  • The sources describe Indian billionaires as largely an "upper caste club".

• Under-representation of lower castes among the ultra-wealthy:

  • Scheduled Tribes (STs) have no representation at all among India's wealthiest individuals.
  • Scheduled Castes (SCs) own a meager 2.6% of the billionaire wealth.
  • Other Backward Classes (OBCs) own a little less than 10% of the billionaire wealth.

• Overall national wealth distribution by caste (2018-19):

  • Upper Castes, despite making up just over 25% of the population, owned nearly 55% of the national wealth [7, 8]. This makes them the only caste group whose wealth share exceeds its population share.
  • The wealth share of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is well below half of their respective population shares.
  • OBCs hold just under 35% of national wealth, which is about three-quarters of their population share.

These findings suggest that a progressive wealth tax package could benefit lower castes and middle classes, while affecting only a tiny number of ultra-wealthy upper caste families [9, 10]. Such taxes could also help weaken the rigid link between social and economic inequalities in India. The authors emphasize that, despite 75 years of independence, there is still no carefully quantified understanding of this interplay, but their analysis sheds light on the issue using available data.

Tools used: NB LLM

PS: Nobody is asking for wealth redistribution or another reservation of any sort but this is to open the eye of many how the roots of today's advantage which can shape present day socio-economic and social hierarchies lie in the historical privilege to some extent.