The growing divide

If more compelling evidence is needed of widening inequality in India, the latest global wealth report of Oxfam, a non-government organisation, offers some compelling proof. Released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, that annual celebration of wealth, the report, titled “Survival of the Richest: The India Story”, shows that just 5 per cent of the Indians own more than 60 per cent of the country’s wealth and the bottom 50 per cent share just 3 per cent. India’s rich appear to have done well for themselves during the Covid years, the study found, with the number of billionaires increasing from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022. In that period, the study calculates that India’s