A larger part of India's population was in the middle 40 per cent of the national income share in 1980. Today almost all are in the bottom 50 per cent.
While other backward classes had a share of 9 per cent, there were no scheduled tribe billionaires.
Inequality in India has skyrocketed since early 2000s, with the income and wealth share of top 1 per cent population rising to 22.6 per cent and 40.1 per cent, respectively, in 2022-23, according to a working paper. The paper titled 'Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj' said between 2014-15 and 2022-23, the rise of top-end inequality has been particularly pronounced in terms of wealth concentration.
The paper said that the taxation proposal needs to be accompanied by explicit redistributive policies to support the poor, lower castes, and middle classes.
India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with the top 1 per cent of the population holding more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021 and the bottom half just 13 per cent, according to a report. The report, titled ' World Inequality Report 2022', has been authored by Lucas Chancel, co-director of the World Inequality Lab, and coordinated by several experts, including French economist Thomas Piketty. It further said India is now among the most unequal countries in the world.
Wealth, which can broadly be a measure of assets held as opposed to income earned, is unequally distributed.
IMAGES from the Europa League semifinal matches played on Thursday.
A new study shows that the bottom half of the population enjoyed only 15 per cent of national income in 2013-14, down sharply from 24 per cent in the early 1980s.
The top companies with a striking gap in pay between the senior-most executives and median employees in 2017-2018 belonged mostly to sectors such as information technology, auto and engineering.
From 1980 to 2014, the top 1 per cent captured 29 per cent of total growth, as much as the bottom 84 per cent put together.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his personal battle with Lionel Messi by scoring his 71st Champions League goal, putting him three behind the Argentine's newly-set record, in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at FC Basel on Wednesday.
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