Report by Benn Kochuveedan for The New Indian Express

The country has added a dollar millionaire household every 30 minutes during the past four years, with the number of such households -- families with at least Rs 8.5 crore in assets -- nearly doubling from 4.58 lakh in 2021 to 8.71 lakh in 2025.

The number also speaks volumes about the less-talked about income disparities that have been heading north steadily over the past decade.

The Hurun India wealth report 2025 notes that the number of such households comprises only about 0.31% of all households. The report sees the numbers rising much faster, given the strong economic momentum that the country is witnessing.

Maharashtra, which is also the largest economy among the states, leads the pack with 1,78,600 millionaire households (a growth of a full 194% since 2021), with Mumbai alone hosting 1,42,000 such households, underpinned by a 55% growth in the state’s economy to Rs 40.5 trillion or $480 billion in 2025.

Among cities, Delhi, with 79,800 millionaire households, comes second, followed by Bengaluru, fuelled by its IT and startup ecosystem, in third place with 31,600 households. Other prominent cities include Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad, reflecting wealth creation across traditional and emerging hubs.

Santosh Iyer, chief executive of Mercedes-Benz India, which collaborated to co-produce the report, said the Hurun numbers reflect the pulse of the country’s wealth creation and luxury consumption patterns, representing the sentiment of the number of affluent people.

The near-doubling of the number of millionaire households proves the wealth creation story here is both real and resilient, said Anas Rahman Junaid, founder & chief researcher of Hurun India.

The rise in millionaire households has been supported by strong equity markets, soaring gold prices, and growing luxury consumption. The Nifty climbed nearly 70% between 2021 and 2025, while gold prices more than doubled, crossing Rs 1.14 lakh per 10 grams.

While the millionaire base has expanded sharply, the report, based on a survey of 150 millionaires and private research, notes that the climb to ultra-high-net-worth status remains elusive. Only 5% of millionaires in 2017 graduated to the Rs 100 crore plus bracket, and a mere 0.01% became billionaires. This dual trend highlights a broad-based rise in affluence but concentrated wealth at the very top.

Despite its impressive trajectory, the desi millionaire population remains modest compared to China’s which has 5.1 million millionaire households.

The report projects that India could see its millionaire households double to nearly 2 million over the next decade, Junaid said, adding the country is poised to become the world’s fastest-growing wealth hub. While affluence is spreading rapidly, the path to billionaire status remains steep, reflecting both opportunity and selectivity.