Indian billionaires increased their wealth by 35% during the lockdown, says Oxfam report
Jagriti Chandra
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 25, 2021
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. File photo | Photo Credit: PTI
Mukesh Ambani, who emerged as the richest man in India and Asia, earned ₹90 crore per hour during the pandemic when around 24% of the people in the country were earning under ₹3,000 per month.
Indian billionaires increased their wealth by 35% during the lockdown to $422.9 billion, ranking India sixth in the world after U.S., China, Germany, Russia and France. Out of these, the rise in fortunes for the top 100 billionaires since the lockdown in March is enough to give every one of the 138 million poorest Indian people a cheque for ₹94,045 each, according to Oxfam’s Inequality Virus Report released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The wealth of just the top 11 billionaires during the pandemic can easily sustain the MGNREGS or the Health Ministry for the next 10 years, says the report which underscores the deepening inequalities due to COVID-19 where the wealthiest escaped the worst impact of the pandemic while the poor faced joblessness, starvation and death.
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 25, 2021
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. File photo | Photo Credit: PTI
Mukesh Ambani, who emerged as the richest man in India and Asia, earned ₹90 crore per hour during the pandemic when around 24% of the people in the country were earning under ₹3,000 per month.
Indian billionaires increased their wealth by 35% during the lockdown to $422.9 billion, ranking India sixth in the world after U.S., China, Germany, Russia and France. Out of these, the rise in fortunes for the top 100 billionaires since the lockdown in March is enough to give every one of the 138 million poorest Indian people a cheque for ₹94,045 each, according to Oxfam’s Inequality Virus Report released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The wealth of just the top 11 billionaires during the pandemic can easily sustain the MGNREGS or the Health Ministry for the next 10 years, says the report which underscores the deepening inequalities due to COVID-19 where the wealthiest escaped the worst impact of the pandemic while the poor faced joblessness, starvation and death.
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Mukesh Ambani, who emerged as the richest man in India and Asia, earned ₹90 crore per hour during the pandemic when around 24% of the people in the country were earning under ₹ 3,000 per month during the lockdown. The increase in the wealth of Mr. Ambani alone could keep 40 crore informal workers out of poverty for at least five months, says the report.
It recommends re-introducing wealth tax and effecting a one-time COVID-19 cess of 4% on taxable income of over ₹10 lakh to help the economy recover from the lockdown. According to its estimate, wealth tax on the nation’s 954 richest families could raise the equivalent of 1% of India’s GDP.
PTI adds:
Calling the coronavirus pandemic the world’s worst public health crisis in a hundred years, the report said it triggered an economic crisis comparable in scale only with the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The new global survey of 295 economists from 79 countries, commissioned by Oxfam, reveals that 87% of respondents, including Jeffrey Sachs, Jayati Ghosh and Gabriel Zucman, expect an “increase” or a “major increase” in income inequality in their country as a result of the pandemic.
India introduced one of the earliest and most stringent lockdowns in the face of the pandemic and its enforcement brought the economy to a standstill, triggering unemployment, hunger, distress migration and untold hardship in its wake, the report said.
“The rich were able to escape the pandemic’s worst impact; and while the white-collar workers isolated themselves and worked from home, a majority of the not-so-fortunate Indians lost their livelihood,” it said.
The report noted that billionaires such as Gautam Adani, Shiv Nadar, Cyrus Poonawalla, Uday Kotak, Azim Premji, Sunil Mittal, Radhakrishan Damani, Kumar Manglam Birla and Laxmi Mittal working in sectors such as coal, oil, telecom, medicines, pharmaceutical, education and retail increased their wealth exponentially since March 2020 when India announced world’s biggest COVID-19 lockdown and economy came to standstill.
On the other hand, data has shown that 170,000 people lost their jobs every hour in the month of April 2020, the report said.
Noting that the informal sector had been the worst hit, the report said out of a total 12.2 crore people who lost their jobs, 75 per cent, which accounts for 9.2 crore jobs, were lost in the informal sector.
“The mass exodus on foot triggered by the sudden lockdown and the inhuman beating, disinfection and quarantine conditions the informal workers were subjected to turned a health emergency into a humanitarian crisis,” it said.
“Over 300 informal workers died due to the lockdown, with reasons ranging from starvation, suicides, exhaustion, road and rail accidents, police brutality and denial of timely medical care. The National Human Rights Commission recorded over 2,582 cases of human rights violation as early as in the month of April 2020,” the report added.
It noted that the long disruption of schooling risked doubling the rate of out of school, especially among the poor.
“Only 4% of rural households had a computer and less than 15% rural households had an internet connection,” it said.
On health inequalities, the report said only 6% of the poorest 20% has access to non-shared sources of improved sanitation, compared to 93.4% of the top 20%. It added that 59.6% of India’s population lives in a room or less.
The report said 1.7 crore women lost their job in April 2020 and unemployment for women rose by 15% from a pre-lockdown level.
Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar said if not addressed immediately, the crisis could worsen.
“Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a policy choice. The fight against inequality must be at the heart of economic rescue and recovery efforts now,” Mr. Behar said.
“Newer and creative ways of catering to the needs of the masses is possible if governments are committed to the needs of its people. It is time for the government of India to take specific and concrete actions that will build a better future, more equal and just a future for everyone,” he said.
Mukesh Ambani, who emerged as the richest man in India and Asia, earned ₹90 crore per hour during the pandemic when around 24% of the people in the country were earning under ₹ 3,000 per month during the lockdown. The increase in the wealth of Mr. Ambani alone could keep 40 crore informal workers out of poverty for at least five months, says the report.
It recommends re-introducing wealth tax and effecting a one-time COVID-19 cess of 4% on taxable income of over ₹10 lakh to help the economy recover from the lockdown. According to its estimate, wealth tax on the nation’s 954 richest families could raise the equivalent of 1% of India’s GDP.
PTI adds:
Calling the coronavirus pandemic the world’s worst public health crisis in a hundred years, the report said it triggered an economic crisis comparable in scale only with the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The new global survey of 295 economists from 79 countries, commissioned by Oxfam, reveals that 87% of respondents, including Jeffrey Sachs, Jayati Ghosh and Gabriel Zucman, expect an “increase” or a “major increase” in income inequality in their country as a result of the pandemic.
India introduced one of the earliest and most stringent lockdowns in the face of the pandemic and its enforcement brought the economy to a standstill, triggering unemployment, hunger, distress migration and untold hardship in its wake, the report said.
“The rich were able to escape the pandemic’s worst impact; and while the white-collar workers isolated themselves and worked from home, a majority of the not-so-fortunate Indians lost their livelihood,” it said.
The report noted that billionaires such as Gautam Adani, Shiv Nadar, Cyrus Poonawalla, Uday Kotak, Azim Premji, Sunil Mittal, Radhakrishan Damani, Kumar Manglam Birla and Laxmi Mittal working in sectors such as coal, oil, telecom, medicines, pharmaceutical, education and retail increased their wealth exponentially since March 2020 when India announced world’s biggest COVID-19 lockdown and economy came to standstill.
On the other hand, data has shown that 170,000 people lost their jobs every hour in the month of April 2020, the report said.
Noting that the informal sector had been the worst hit, the report said out of a total 12.2 crore people who lost their jobs, 75 per cent, which accounts for 9.2 crore jobs, were lost in the informal sector.
“The mass exodus on foot triggered by the sudden lockdown and the inhuman beating, disinfection and quarantine conditions the informal workers were subjected to turned a health emergency into a humanitarian crisis,” it said.
“Over 300 informal workers died due to the lockdown, with reasons ranging from starvation, suicides, exhaustion, road and rail accidents, police brutality and denial of timely medical care. The National Human Rights Commission recorded over 2,582 cases of human rights violation as early as in the month of April 2020,” the report added.
It noted that the long disruption of schooling risked doubling the rate of out of school, especially among the poor.
“Only 4% of rural households had a computer and less than 15% rural households had an internet connection,” it said.
On health inequalities, the report said only 6% of the poorest 20% has access to non-shared sources of improved sanitation, compared to 93.4% of the top 20%. It added that 59.6% of India’s population lives in a room or less.
The report said 1.7 crore women lost their job in April 2020 and unemployment for women rose by 15% from a pre-lockdown level.
Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar said if not addressed immediately, the crisis could worsen.
“Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a policy choice. The fight against inequality must be at the heart of economic rescue and recovery efforts now,” Mr. Behar said.
“Newer and creative ways of catering to the needs of the masses is possible if governments are committed to the needs of its people. It is time for the government of India to take specific and concrete actions that will build a better future, more equal and just a future for everyone,” he said.
Mukesh Ambani Is Making 90 Crores Per Hour, What Do Other Big Business People Make?
Chirali Sharma
30 September 2020·
The coronavirus pandemic has not really been beneficial to many people. With the entire country going into lockdown for a good amount of time, and even still many places choosing to keep shut due to safety reasons, the economy of several businesses has taken a big hit.
However, it seems that this has not exactly stopped some people from earning their crores regardless of whatever is happening in the country, or maybe even because of it.
As per the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020, Mukesh Ambani has kept his position at the top of the list because during the lockdown he has reportedly been making as much as Rs. 90 crore per hour.
Since March, Ambani has added a whopping Rs. 2,77,700 crore through the various fund-raising and strategic investments from Facebook, Google and Silver Lake.
This has allowed his personal wealth to increase to Rs. 6,58,400 crore and allowed him to be the richest person in India for the ninth consecutive year in a row.
Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, stated that “28 per cent of the upswing in wealth on the list has been bestowed by Mukesh Ambani, bespeaking Ambani’s meteoric success post diversifying from oil to telecom and retail. A further 21 per cent of the additional wealth has been generated by pharma, mainly on the back of the rise in healthcare spends and a realigned priority towards personal healthcare stimulated by the Covid-19.”
Read More: The Billionaire Who Fought Both Ambani And Tata And Is Still Around To Tell The Story
But one has to wonder, how much do other big business people around the world make whether in a day or an hour.
Here are some of them and how much these business people who are millionaires and billionaires on their own make:
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, one of the richest man on the planet, as per reports from 2019, is said to be making more than $4.4 million in an hour.
Tim Cook
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO makes ₹ 3,54,90,623.05 in a day.
Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, makes ₹ 2,19,44,320.42 in a day.
Mark Zuckerberg
As per a 2019 Business Insider report, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, makes around $1,712,328 in a single hour.
But one has to wonder, how much do other big business people around the world make whether in a day or an hour.
Here are some of them and how much these business people who are millionaires and billionaires on their own make:
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, one of the richest man on the planet, as per reports from 2019, is said to be making more than $4.4 million in an hour.
Tim Cook
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO makes ₹ 3,54,90,623.05 in a day.
Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, makes ₹ 2,19,44,320.42 in a day.
Mark Zuckerberg
As per a 2019 Business Insider report, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, makes around $1,712,328 in a single hour.
Alice Walton Walmart
Alice Walton, the American heiress to the Walmart fortune, is said to own over more than US$11 billion in Walmart shares.
In September of this year, she was ranked as the 12th richest person and the richest woman in the world, having a net worth of $68.8 billion.
As per sources, Walton makes ₹ 2,32,81,84,872.16 in one single day.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Business Insider, The Indian Express, Zee Business
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: mukesh ambani 90 crore, mukesh ambani 90 crore lockdown, mukesh ambani per hour, mukesh ambani money per hour, how much millionaires make in a day, how much money billionaires make per hour
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