“The reason that so few people are financially independent today is that they place many negative roadblocks in their heads. Becoming wealthy is, in fact, a mind game” — Thomas J. Stanley
This is the Budget session. The discussions, understandably, are on rural distress, job creation, corporate tax, private investments and infrastructure. This is Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s last full Budget before the 2019 general elections, and the challenge before him was a tightrope walk between fiscal prudence and populism. BW Businessworld organised a series of Budget roundtables where the country’s leading thinkers and company heads discussed expectations from the Union Budget. In this edition, we bring you a snapshot of some of these ideas. Corporate leaders also write how they would have presented this Budget. In our upcoming issues, we will take forward this discussion on the Union Budget.
This, however, is not our first cover story this issue.
In our first cover story, we present to you our annual feature on the super rich.
The rich and the powerful have arrived through grit, determination and hard work. They are, however, also often put to questions. A recent Oxfam report, for instance, highlights deepening inequality in countries like India and says that the richest 1 per cent got 73 per cent of the wealth generated in the country in 2017. The report adds that the poorest half of the population – as many as 67 crore Indians – saw their wealth rise by just 1 per cent.
We, in our issue, however, salute the spirit of entrepreneurship that this new generation of wealth makers has given rise to. And the jobs they have created through their successful companies.
In our study, we find that owing to a strong economy, the super rich in the country have increased their fortunes by 51 per cent in 2017. Indeed, last year was a very good year to be a millionaire. India’s richest added a staggering Rs 12.37 lakh crore to their fortunes. This is a mere fraction of the total entrepreneurial wealth generated, as we, in our study, restricted and researched and gathered data regarding the top-listed entities with promoter stakes of Rs 300 crore and above, and not the entire scale of entrepreneurship, which would encompass the universes of both the small-scale and private sectors.
In this issue, we also dissect PM Narendra Modi’s Davos pitch. It was after 21 years that an Indian Prime Minister was addressing the World Economic Forum, highlighting the India growth story. We bring to you a spot report on how the PM’s pitch made an impact on a global audience. The package becomes complete with a few guest columnists who provide different perspectives to the theme.
We also carry an analytical piece on the government’s FDI push, which was announced only recently. Besides that, we also have an in-depth report on how infrastructure as a sector is faring at the moment. This becomes doubly important given the present government’s thrust on the sector.
We also carry a follow-up story on the visit of Israeli Prime Minister to India.
All in all, an interesting mix and a very readable issue.
Do keep writing in.