- India reported 576 high-income individuals earning over 100 crore rupees in the assessment year 2025-26.
- The number of high-earners grew by 305 percent compared to the 142 individuals recorded in 2021-22.
- The Ministry of Finance does not track net worth because the Wealth-tax Act was abolished in 2016.
India’s 576 individuals reported gross total income of Rs 100 crore or more in Assessment Year 2025-26, according to data the Finance Ministry shared in Parliament on July 27, 2026.
The count stood at 142 in AY 2021-22. It has now risen to roughly four times that level, although the figures dipped briefly before reaching a new high.
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The data tracks annual income reported on tax returns. It does not measure net worth.
Pankaj Chaudhary, minister of state for finance, said the Income-tax Act does not define the term “billionaire.”
“There is no statutory definition of the term 'billionaire' either under the Income-tax Act, 2025 or under the erstwhile Income-tax Act, 1961.”
Chaudhary provided the response in writing to an unstarred question from Murari Lal Meena, a Congress member of Parliament representing the Dausa constituency.
The count rose after a one-year dip
The number of people reporting at least the threshold climbed sharply between AY 2021-22 and AY 2022-23, then fell before resuming its rise.
| Assessment year | Individuals reporting gross total income of the threshold or more |
|---|---|
| AY 2021-22 | 142 |
| AY 2022-23 | 301 |
| AY 2023-24 | 284 |
| AY 2024-25 | 415 |
| AY 2025-26 | 576 |
The AY 2025-26 figure covers income earned during Financial Year 2024-25, which ran from April 2024 to March 2025.
The increase from 142 to 576 represents an approximately 305% rise over the period. The annual series does not show a steady climb: the count dropped from 301 to 284 in AY 2023-24, then increased by 131 in the following assessment year.
One billion rupees equals 100 crore in India’s numbering system. The people in this tax-return category are therefore sometimes described as rupee billionaires by income, but that label does not establish their assets or overall wealth.
Tax returns do not provide a wealth tally
The government said it does not maintain aggregate wealth data for the people in the income category. The Wealth-tax Act, 1957, was abolished effective April 1, 2016.
That distinction limits what the figures show. A return records reported gross total income for a tax year, while net worth can include assets, investments and other holdings that are not represented by a single annual-income number.
The parliamentary response also linked the income data to wider indicators cited by the government in its discussion of economic inclusion. A Ministry of Finance statement said:
“Several indicators suggest improving economic inclusion. the rural-urban gap is narrowing.”
The statement cited the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24. Its reported rural Gini coefficient fell to 0.237 from 0.266 in 2022-23, while the urban measure declined to 0.284 from 0.314.
The government paired the figures with broader economic measures
The government also pointed to labor-market and poverty data. The unemployment rate for people aged 15 and above declined from 3.6% in 2022 to 3.1% in 2025.
That figure covers the broader labor market. It does not explain why the number of high-income tax filers changed.
NITI Aayog estimates cited in the response put multidimensional poverty at 14.96% in 2019-21, down from 24.85% in 2015-16. The estimates said 135 million people moved out of poverty during that period.
The indicators cover different populations and measures. Tax-return data counts people reporting income above a specified level, while Gini coefficients measure inequality in consumption and multidimensional poverty captures several deprivation measures.
A household income survey is under way
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation began India’s first National Household Income Survey in April 2026. The survey is expected to conclude in March 2027.
Its purpose is to provide more detailed information on household income and wealth distribution than tax-return data alone. The results could add a broader household-level view to the annual tax filings reported in Parliament.
The current figures remain tied to assessment years. AY 2025-26 is the latest year listed in the parliamentary response, and the underlying income period ended in March 2025.
