Over 85% of billionaires in India belong to upper castes
New Delhi: More than 85 percent of India's billionaire wealth is concentrated among upper caste communities, showcasing the pervasive influence of caste on economic status. According to additional data shared with Business Standard by researchers from the World Inequality Lab, upper castes held 88.4 percent of billionaire wealth in 2022, compared to 2.6 percent held by people from scheduled castes (SCs).
Other backward classes (OBCs) accounted for 9 percent of billionaire wealth, while there were no billionaires from scheduled tribes (STs). The data, derived from the study "Towards Tax Justice and Wealth Redistribution in India: Proposals Based On Latest Inequality Estimates”, involved manual coding and the 'Outkast' algorithm to determine the caste composition of billionaires.
The study, authored by Nitin Kumar Bharti (New York University), Lucas Chancel (Harvard Kennedy School), Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi (Paris School of Economics), indicates a decline in wealth among OBC billionaires and an increase for those from upper castes. This shift is attributed to the fact that most new billionaires in recent years have been from upper castes, according to Somanchi.
Caste continues to shape access to education, health, social networks, and credit, which are crucial for entrepreneurship and wealth generation. Historically, Dalits were prohibited from owning land in many regions, limiting their economic progress.
The disparity is not limited to billionaires. The “State of Working India, 2023” a report by Azim Premji University shows that SCs and STs are underrepresented as enterprise owners relative to their workforce participation. While SCs constitute 19.3 percent of the workforce, only 11.4 percent own enterprises. For STs, who make up 10.1 percent of the workforce, only 5.4 percent own enterprises.
Wealth inequality extends beyond the billionaire list. According to the National Family Health Survey, only 12.3 percent of SCs and 5.4 percent of STs are in the highest wealth quintile. Conversely, more than 25 percent of SCs and 46.3 percent of STs fall into the lowest wealth category. The OBC community has 16.3 percent of its population in the lowest wealth category and 19.2 percent in the highest wealth category.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
