India likely to see steep rise in ultra rich people

Hyderabad: Knight Frank India, a global real estate consultancy agency, forecasted that India to havesecond highest five-year growthin the number of ultra highnet worthindividuals (UHNWI) by FY25.

According to the real estate consultancy which released it's the Wealth Report for 2021 on Wednbesday, India will witness a 63 per cent upswing in the number of UHNWIs to 11,198 from 6,884 in 2020, while the growth is estimated to be around 27 per cent globally. The agencycarried a survey of UHNWI and other rich people across 100 cities globally.

In the previous five years i.e. 2015 to 2020, the country witnessed 27 per cent rise in ultra rich population, but the count shrank 1.6 per cent in 2019-20

The number of billionaires in India will increase to 162 in next five years from 113 now, registering a 43 per cent rise. India is home to 6,884 in UHNWIs and 3,50,050 HNWIs (high net worth individuals) now. The survey revealed that 91 per cent of Indian wealthy expect their wealth to increase in 2021 while it is 71 per cent globally.Meanwhile one out of five UHNWIs in India intends to buy a new house in 2021 whereas it was one out ten in 2020. As many as46 per cent of Indian UHNWIs are more interested in ESG (Environmental Social Governance) - focused property investments than they were 12 months ago.

Jewellery is most desired object for Indian UHNWIs where as art, watches, wine and classic cars come next. The Indian cities Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru ranked at 64, 83, and 87 in the Knight Frank City Wealth Index 2021. The top three ranks were retained by London, New York and Paris.

"The pandemic has created significant disruption, but the policy response has boosted investment and innovation opportunities. The pandemic is driving real estate innovation and globally 43 per cent of investors increasingly interested in ESG projects," said Liam Bialey, Partner, Global Head of Research, Knight Frank.

With the economic operability reaching high levels of its efficiency post the pandemic, India will make strides to make an entry into 5-trillion-dollar club in the next few years, said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India.

India is expected to further economically strengthen and gain a formidable position as an Asian superpower paving an ecosystem for the rise of new sunrise sectors, he added.