India Creates the Rich, But the Rich Create Wealth for Other Nations
Nidhi | Oct 30, 2025, 16:08 IST
Virat kohli and Anushka
( Image credit : IANS )
India’s economy is growing at record speed — but the wealth it creates is quietly leaving home. With rising millionaire migration and billions flowing abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, India faces a new paradox: growth without gravity. This article explores why India’s ultra-rich are moving capital overseas, how global wealth strategies reshape national prosperity, and what this means for India’s economic future. It’s not about rebellion — it’s about trust, stability, and the search for security beyond borders.
India today stands on an extraordinary economic high.
An 8.2% GDP growth rate, a trillion-dollar digital economy on the rise, and over 110 unicorns shaping global markets. The country is no longer seen as the world’s back office — it’s becoming the world’s growth engine.
Yet beneath this dazzling ascent lies a quieter paradox: India is creating wealth faster than ever, but the wealth it creates is increasingly being globalized.
The rich aren’t rejecting India — they’re relocating their wealth, their investments, even their future generations elsewhere. And in that movement lies one of the most complex economic contradictions of our time.
It’s not an Indian anomaly. Japan saw it in the 1980s, China after 2010, and even post-Brexit Britain is witnessing it now. When economies grow rapidly but institutional trust doesn’t grow alongside, the wealthy respond not emotionally, but rationally.
They move not because of lack of pride, but because of lack of predictability.
In India’s case, that predictability problem is layered:
According to the Kotak Private Banking–EY 2023 Report, 20% of India’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals (with assets above ₹25 crore) are either abroad or planning to move. The Henley Global Citizens Report 2023 places India second globally in millionaire migration, behind only China.
But this isn’t just about rich individuals leaving — it’s about capital behavior in an open global economy.
Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), outward remittances hit $27.14 billion in FY2023, a 38% jump year-on-year. That money now flows into global real estate, international startups, or family offices in Singapore and Dubai.
The structure is legal, strategic, and increasingly common. In modern economics, capital is no longer loyal - it’s fluid.
As per Oxfam India’s 2023 inequality report, the top 1% of Indians own more than 40% of national wealth.
Yet, India’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains just 11.7%, among the lowest for large economies.
This gap reveals something essential: the rich are growing richer, but not necessarily rooted in the system that created them.
They hold Indian roots, Singapore trusts, Dubai residencies, and London education plans.
What used to be called “capital flight” is now “capital strategy.”
In economic theory, this is a portfolio diversification response - where individuals hedge geopolitical, regulatory, and currency risk by spreading their assets across jurisdictions.
For India, it signals not economic weakness, but economic adolescence - a stage where growth outpaces governance.
Family offices there now manage everything from Indian startup exits to real estate investments in New York and London.
In 2024 alone, nearly 5,000 new Indian family offices were registered abroad.
Even tech founders - from fintech to biotech - increasingly incorporate holding companies in Singapore or the Netherlands before listing, ensuring smoother access to foreign investors and regulatory clarity.
This globalization of Indian wealth isn’t necessarily a loss; but it’s a missed multiplier.
Every rupee that creates employment abroad could have created infrastructure, research, or innovation at home. India’s economy is sprinting. But sometimes, speed without stability can make a system lighter than it should be.
Modern economic thinkers - from Dani Rodrik to Raghuram Rajan - warn of “growth without institutions”: when GDP rises faster than the strength of governance, law, and trust.
In such systems, wealth behaves like vapor — it expands quickly but escapes containment.
India’s entrepreneurs are not disloyal. They are adaptive.
They build here because of India’s energy, but they secure their assets elsewhere because of India’s fragility.
It’s not a flight from the motherland; it’s a search for insurance.
An 8.2% GDP growth rate, a trillion-dollar digital economy on the rise, and over 110 unicorns shaping global markets. The country is no longer seen as the world’s back office — it’s becoming the world’s growth engine.
Yet beneath this dazzling ascent lies a quieter paradox: India is creating wealth faster than ever, but the wealth it creates is increasingly being globalized.
The rich aren’t rejecting India — they’re relocating their wealth, their investments, even their future generations elsewhere. And in that movement lies one of the most complex economic contradictions of our time.
1. The Paradox of Prosperity
India is key growth engine of world economy: IMF chief
( Image credit : IANS )
They move not because of lack of pride, but because of lack of predictability.
In India’s case, that predictability problem is layered:
- Complex tax codes and compliance uncertainty.
- Regulatory shifts that change faster than corporate strategies.
- Delays in dispute resolution — over 52 million cases pending.
- Inconsistent infrastructure in healthcare, logistics, and education.
2. The Global Citizen Class
But this isn’t just about rich individuals leaving — it’s about capital behavior in an open global economy.
Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), outward remittances hit $27.14 billion in FY2023, a 38% jump year-on-year. That money now flows into global real estate, international startups, or family offices in Singapore and Dubai.
The structure is legal, strategic, and increasingly common. In modern economics, capital is no longer loyal - it’s fluid.
3. India’s Growth Story: Wide but Not Deep
India a stabilising force in world economy: Global experts
( Image credit : IANS )
As per Oxfam India’s 2023 inequality report, the top 1% of Indians own more than 40% of national wealth.
Yet, India’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains just 11.7%, among the lowest for large economies.
This gap reveals something essential: the rich are growing richer, but not necessarily rooted in the system that created them.
4. When Wealth Becomes Stateless
Strong capital flow and consolidation continue to drive real estate growth in India: Report
( Image credit : IANS )
They hold Indian roots, Singapore trusts, Dubai residencies, and London education plans.
What used to be called “capital flight” is now “capital strategy.”
In economic theory, this is a portfolio diversification response - where individuals hedge geopolitical, regulatory, and currency risk by spreading their assets across jurisdictions.
For India, it signals not economic weakness, but economic adolescence - a stage where growth outpaces governance.
5. The New Geography of Indian Wealth
Mukesh Ambani reclaims top spot as India's richest, Gautam Adani second: Hurun India Rich List 2025
( Image credit : ANI )
Family offices there now manage everything from Indian startup exits to real estate investments in New York and London.
In 2024 alone, nearly 5,000 new Indian family offices were registered abroad.
Even tech founders - from fintech to biotech - increasingly incorporate holding companies in Singapore or the Netherlands before listing, ensuring smoother access to foreign investors and regulatory clarity.
This globalization of Indian wealth isn’t necessarily a loss; but it’s a missed multiplier.
Every rupee that creates employment abroad could have created infrastructure, research, or innovation at home.
6. The Bigger Picture: Growth Without Gravity
Modern economic thinkers - from Dani Rodrik to Raghuram Rajan - warn of “growth without institutions”: when GDP rises faster than the strength of governance, law, and trust.
In such systems, wealth behaves like vapor — it expands quickly but escapes containment.
India’s entrepreneurs are not disloyal. They are adaptive.
They build here because of India’s energy, but they secure their assets elsewhere because of India’s fragility.
It’s not a flight from the motherland; it’s a search for insurance.