India's ₹100 crore earners jump four-fold in five years: Centre

New Delhi: The number of Indians reporting an annual income of ₹100 crore or more has increased more than four-fold over the past five years, the Union government informed Parliament on Monday while responding to a query on the country's billionaires.

The Ministry of Finance said the Income Tax Act does not provide a statutory definition of a billionaire. Instead, it released data on taxpayers declaring annual incomes of at least ₹100 crore between the financial years 2021-22 and 2025-26.

According to the data, 142 individuals reported annual incomes above ₹100 crore in 2021-22. The figure rose to 301 in 2022-23 and reached 576 by 2025-26.

The ministry also said it does not maintain data on the aggregate wealth of Indian billionaires, noting that the Wealth Tax Act was abolished in 2016.

The government figures come amid studies highlighting both the rise in India's wealthy population and widening economic inequality. A Knight Frank report released in April estimated that India has 207 dollar billionaires and more than 19,850 ultra-high-net-worth individuals, projecting those numbers to rise to 313 and over 25,200, respectively, by 2031.

The 2026 World Inequality Report found that the richest 1% of Indians hold 40% of the country's wealth, while the top 10% control about 65%. A separate 2026 study by the Centre for Financial Accountability and Tax The Top campaign said the wealth of India's five richest families grew by 400% between 2019 and 2025, while the bottom 50% continued to hold just 6.4% of the nation's wealth.