Live rich Indians make our World

At home millionaires in a world of their own It is no surprise that North America, with the highest number of NRIs in any region, will also have the most ultra rich Indians. But exactly how many? If you define $30 million (Rs 135 crore) as the threshold of ultra richness, then the precise answer is 1,925. That’s exactly 38 per cent of all ultra rich Indians outside India who number 4,960. European ultra rich NRIs come next, numbering 1,080, or 21 per cent of the total, followed by Asia (995, or 20 per cent), West Asia (750, or 15 per cent), Latin America (200, or 4 per cent) and Africa (50, or 1 per cent), according to a tracking firm, Wealth–X. There are ultra rich NRIs, and then there are ultra-ultra rich NRIs, the latter defined by a net worth of $750 million and $1 billion. But they are a handful – only 15. Compared to them, the 2,345 NRIs around the globe with wealth of just $30 million to $50 million would seem hoi polloi. Now, in terms of wealth, where do the global NRIs stand collectively vis-à-vis their brethren back home? Not quite close, really. Consider the following data: the 4,960 ultra rich NRIs together hold wealth equivalent to $465 billion. Back home in India, there are as many as 8,200 Indians who will qualify to be called ultra rich by the same net-worth yardstick, and collectively they have a wealth of $945 billion. Clearly, this demolishes the myth that NRIs are way richer than resident rich Indians. Wealth-X puts the number of resident Indians each worth between $500 million and $750 million at 135. In the same wealth bracket the number of NRIs is only 80. In the next lower wealth bracket of $250 million to $500 million, NRIs number 130 and resident Indians 215. The wealth tracker values all ultra rich people, NRI or not, by dividend income, cash, salary, directorship fees and assets like real estate, planes, art collections — practically everything on which an assignable value can be put. Within the European Union the UK leads the charge with 380 ultra rich NRIs (35 per cent of the European count). Naturally, three familiar names crop up in this list — Lakshmi Mittal (worth $31 billion), Anil Agarwal of Vedanta ($6.1 billion) and Micky Jagtiani of the Landmark retail chain ($3 billion). Jagtiani had for years been based in Dubai, but moved to the UK. What may come as a surprise is Italy. The country is home to 190 ultra rich NRIs, or 18 per cent of the European total. Germany comes next (140, or 13 per cent); followed by Switzerland (80, or 7 per cent), the Netherlands (70, or 6 per cent) and France (60, under 6 per cent). The remaining ultra rich European NRIs (numbering 160) are sprinkled across the rest of the continent. Asia, with 995 ultra rich NRIs is not very far behind Europe. The highest number (225, or 23 per cent of the regional total) lives in Singapore, followed by Malaysia (160, or 16 per cent) and Japan (120, or 12 per cent). China’s share is 105 (or 11 per cent); Hong Kong’s 100 (about 10 per cent); Indonesia’s 40 (4 per cent) and Thailand’s 35 (under 4 per cent). 19 May 2011    Kumar Shankar Roy http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/live%E2%80%88rich%E2%80%88indians-make%E2%80%88our%E2%80%88world-810 For more news and updates, assistance with your visa needs or for a Free Assessment of your profile for Immigration or Work Visa’s just visit www.y-axis.com