New Delhi, July 27: The number of people in India with gross income exceeding Rs 100 crore has increased to 576 in 2025-26, from 415 a year ago.
This information was given in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary who said these individuals have furnished the details in their Income Tax Returns (ITR) for the assessment year 2025-26.
In 2021-22, 142 had reported income over ₹100 crore, while in 2022-23 it was 301, in 2023-24 it was 284, in 2024-25 it was 415, and in 2025-26 it was 576, the minister said.
In reply to questions, he said there is “no statutory definition of the term ‘billionaire’ either under the Income-tax Act, 2025 or under the erstwhile Income-tax Act, 1961”.
Chaudhary said that since the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 was abolished in 2016 the government does not maintain data on aggregate wealth of taxpayers anymore.
In the responses, Chaudhary said the rural-urban gap in household consumption is narrowing.
The Gini coefficient for rural and urban areas is 0.237 and 0.284, respectively, down from 0.266 and 0.314 in 2022-23.
He added that the unemployment rate for individuals aged 15, according to the Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report, has decreased from 3.6% in 2022 to 3.1% in 2025.
He also cited the National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023, released by NITI Aayog to say that the proportion of the population in multidimensional poverty declined from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
He said 13.5 crore people have escaped poverty during the period. (BVI)
