India's High Networth Individuals Risen by 19%!

It was only last week I was talking about the disparities in India rising high. As much as India is a land of contrasts, the middle class sections are also getting richer. Here is an interesting story on the increase in the High Networth Individuals (HNIs).

Buoyed by strong growth in real gross domestic product, India registered the world’s second highest growth in high net worth individuals (HNIs), after South Korea, in 2005.

According to an Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch on Monday, HNIs in India swelled to 83,000 at the end of 2005, up 19.3% compared to the previous year. They hold $290 billion in assets, 3.8% of the total Asia-Pacific HNI wealth. The average networth of Indian HNIs-at $3.5 million per person-was the fourth highest in Asia. Equities constituted the largest portion of their portfolios at 31%, while fixed-income and alternative investments constituted 19% and 20%, respectively. The report also forecast India’s GDP to grow to 17% of the world’s aggregate GDP by 2050, from 2% now.

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Pradeep Dokania, head-global private client, DSP Merrill Lynch, said, “The rising levels of consumerism among emerging economies like India would lower their dependence on the US economy and would fuel their domestic growth. The only possible threat could be a major spurt in global oil prices, which may hamper growth. Going forward, the exposure to real estate investments by Indian HNIs will grow.”