576 Individuals Declared Gross Total Income of ₹100 Crore or More in AY 2025-26: Ministry of Finance Informs Lok Sabha

The Ministry of Finance, in its response to a parliamentary question raised in the Lok Sabha, disclosed significant data pertaining to high-income individuals in India. The response, presented before the lower house of Parliament on July 27, 2026, addressed a range of concerns spanning the concentration of income and wealth, government data practices, poverty reduction indicators, and the legislative measures being deployed to promote equitable economic growth.

Background: Parliamentary Question No. 1274

Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1274, raised by Shri Murari Lal Meena, was taken up for reply on Monday, July 27, 2026 / Shravana 5, 1948 (Saka). The question was directed at the Minister of Finance and sought information on the following:

• Whether the Government is cognisant of the rising number of billionaires in the country and India's standing globally in this regard
• Details of such growth over the preceding five years
• Whether official or compiled data on the estimated aggregate wealth of Indian billionaires and its increase has been maintained
• Any studies conducted on the impact of increasing wealth concentration on inequality, investment, employment, and inclusive growth
• Policy measures and reform initiatives undertaken by the Government to address income and wealth inequality and promote employment and inclusive development

The reply was furnished by Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.

No Statutory Definition of "Billionaire" Under Indian Tax Law

At the outset, the Ministry clarified a foundational legal point: there exists no statutory definition of the term "billionaire" under either the Income-tax Act, 2025 or the earlier Income-tax Act, 1961. Consequently, the Government does not maintain a formal category or register of "billionaires" for tax administration purposes.

Notwithstanding the absence of a formal definition, the Ministry offered a data-driven approximation by referring to the number of individuals who reported a Gross Total Income of ₹100 crore or more in their Income-tax Returns (ITRs).

Rising Trend in High-Income Declarations: Five-Year Data

The data presented by the Ministry reveals a sharp and consistent upward trend in the number of assessees declaring exceptionally high incomes. The figures for the last five Assessment Years are as under:

The data indicates that the number of such high-income assessees has grown by approximately 305% over the five-year window — rising from 142 in AY 2021-22 to 576 in AY 2025-26. While there was a marginal decline between AY 2022-23 and AY 2023-24, the overall trajectory has been strongly upward.