Return of Oligarchs

Currently, when tax collections, both direct and indirect, and the Government's spending on infrastructure are at record levels, economists are suggesting that further growth of the economy will depend on a rise in consumption levels, and the time may have come for the Government to cut taxes so that people in the lower and middle brackets have more spending power. Not surprisingly, the Confederation of Indian Industry wants the government to 'focus on enhancing disposable incomes and stimulating spending to sustain economic momentum'

- DEVENDRA SAKSENA The writer is a retired Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax

Outgoing US President Joe Biden in his farewell address spoke of "dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power was left unchecked," underlining threats to the institutions that govern American society by placement of plutocrats in bodies deciding public policy and the monopolistic control over personal data and misinformation campaigns by some wealthy individuals - which was shaping political discourse and public perception. Mincing no words, Mr. Biden warned the American public against oligarchs who posed a threat to American democracy, basic rights and freedoms and equality of opportunity.

What Mr. Biden said is deeply relevant for most countries, because concentration of wealth is taking place at an unprecedented rate the world over, including India. According to UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report, India, which is ranked at the 140th position in terms of per capita GDP, ranked third globally in billionaire count in 2024, with 185 billionaires, behind only the US and China. We added 32 billionaires in the past year, reflecting a 21 percent increase in the number of billionaires and a remarkable 123 percent growth since 2015. The combined wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 42.1 percent over the year to reach US$905 billion.

These figures appear incongruous vis-à-vis the average monthly consumption expenditure in rural (Rs.4,122) and urban areas (Rs.6,996) in India (Source: Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24). More significantly, the dominance of the wealthy is increasing in the corridors of power; in the showdown between the research firm Hindenburg and Adani Group, the Adanis unabashedly equated themselves with India with no demur from the Government.