Millionaires lounging at the departure gate make little difference to a country so long as it produces more of them. By some projections, India could double its 2021 population of around 8 lakh millionaires over five years. Every third new millionaire in the world between 2021 and 2026 is likely to be an Indian. Besides, 18 million Indians live outside their homeland, the world’s biggest diaspora that could make it the first country to receive $100 billion in remittances this year. The outflow on account of departing HNWIs is not significant in comparison.
The pace of wealth creation within India, and among Indians living abroad, is accelerating. The consumption pathway for this wealth is also globalising rapidly. India needs to grow at world-beating rates to be able to produce goods and services at home for a new generation of big spenders. The immediate target would be to raise living standards from lower-middle-income to upper-middle-income country levels. Structural rigidities make sustaining economic growth above 8% difficult. That growth rate is, however, inescapable if per-capita income has to double in five years.
