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The latest hot spot for elites? It may just be India.
The South Asian country’s ultra-rich population is booming in both major cities and more industrial locales, Bloomberg reported on Monday. In fact, India is one of the fastest-growing countries for people worth $100 million or more. The well-heeled are not being shy about spending their fortunes, either.
“Luxury is no longer limited to a niche set of the super wealthy,” Vijay KG, who founded the Indian online retailer Luxepolis, told Bloomberg. “Everyone wants a piece.”
Mumbai might be one of the best examples of India’s surge in wealth: The city has more people with $100 million than Monaco, and as many billionaires as Singapore, Bloomberg noted. Alibag, a coastal resort referred to as “Mumbai’s Hamptons,” is home to a spate of multimillion-dollar properties with lavish amenities. And Mumbai is seeing higher demand for private members clubs: The founder of one such business, Quorum Club, said that membership has increased 10-fold since pre-pandemic years, to about 2,500 to 3,000 people at locations in both Mumbai and Delhi.
Money isn’t being spent in just India’s major cities, though. Across the country, luxury car sales increased a whopping 32 percent in 2022 compared with the year prior, according to data cited by Bloomberg. And sales in the first six months of this year were led by Mercedes Benz E-Class vehicles. Accessories are a big draw as well: Last year, Rolex opened a store in Raipur, a city of fewer than 2 million people. (The watchmaker’s store at a mall in New Delhi was recently sold out, and the waitlist for some models stretched to 18 months.) Bulgari, meanwhile, is planning a watch and jewelry exhibit in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
While this influx of money may be good for the Indian economy, it also shines a brighter light on inequality within the country, which has the highest number of people living in poverty in the world. In 2021, for example, the top one percent in India held 40 percent of the country’s total wealth.
“Rising inequality in India is no longer debatable,” the economist Kunal Kundu said. “It is a fact, which is why the emerging demand pattern of the super consumers is making so many headlines.”
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