When Hardik Oshoshi sat down to break down the latest numbers of the database of world inequality, he expected to find a growing gap. What he did not expect was a figure so strict that he would make him compare modern India with the painful chapter in his past.
“In a way, he is worse than the British rule,” wrote a Mumbai -based financial analyst in a post since LinkedIn.
He referred to income and wealth inequality in India, which, according to new research, rose above the level seen during colonial time. Oshoshi indicates Inequality of income and wealth in India Report from the database of world inequality (2024) and studies from India today and the working labor in the world of inequality in the world as evidence of disturbing division.
The data are painting a strict image: Top 1% of India’s population now owns 40.1% of the nation’s wealth, while in the lower half it fights with only 6.4%. Meanwhile, the first 10% allocates over 57.7% of national revenue.
“Half of the country is struggling for crumbs, while a small part lives in unthinkable luxury,” Oshoshi wrote, echoing the sense of frustration and alarm.
In his analysis, Oshoshi points out five key reasons for inequality in India’s balloon:
- Tax policies that strongly favor the rich.
- Slim labor laws left by workers exposed and insecure.
- Corporate consolidation opportunities for suffocation of small businesses.
- Increased real estate and stock markets that are largely rewarding those who already have capital.
- Political donations and lobbying that maintain the interests of the rich firmly protected, blocking significant reforms.
For Oshoshos, this is not just economic progress – it’s a deliberate system. “This severe inequality is not an accident. It’s politics,” he argues, asking the question, “Why no one is doing anything?”
His argument is that power structures in India are advancing this imbalance. “They are funding elections. They shape the media narrative. They lobby against redistribution. They convince the middle class that helping the poor are” manuals “while taking subsidies and tax breaks.”
At the heart of his concern is a fundamental belief: India does not suffer from a lack of wealth – suffering from how that wealth is shared. “We produce enough wealth. We just don’t share it properly,” he wrote.
For Oshoshi, the road ahead is clear, but still politically challenging: “The real political will of wealth tax, strengthening work rights, investing in health and education for all and limiting corporate concentration.” Without these steps, he warns, inequality will only deepen – and thus, fractures in the most populous democracy in the world.
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