Rs 100 crore club gets bigger: Number of nine-figure income filers quadruples in five years

India’s Rs 100 crore income club is no longer as exclusive as it once was. More people are reporting nine-figure incomes in their tax returns, with the number rising to 576 in the 2025-26 assessment year, four times the count recorded five years ago, according to data shared by the government in Parliament on Monday.The figures were provided by minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply in the Lok Sabha after he was asked whether the government had taken note of the growing number of billionaires in the country and India’s standing among leading nations in this regard.In his reply, Chaudhary said that there is no statutory definition of the term “billionaire” under either the Income-tax Act, 2025 or the erstwhile Income-tax Act, 1961. Instead, the government shared data on individuals who reported a gross total income of Rs 100 crore or more in their income tax returns.The number of such taxpayers has steadily grown over the past five assessment years. It stood at 142 in AY 2021-22, rose to 301 in AY 2022-23, dipped to 284 in AY 2023-24, increased to 415 in AY 2024-25 and reached 576 in AY 2025-26.Chaudhary also replied to a question on whether the government had carried out any study on the impact of increasing concentration of income and wealth on income inequality, investment, employment generation and inclusive economic growth.Referring to the Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the minister said that labour markets had recovered beyond pre-Covid levels in both urban and rural areas.He added that the unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above fell from 3.6% in 2022 to 3.1% in 2025.“The government has taken several measures to reduce income and wealth inequality, promote broad-based employment generation and foster inclusive economic growth, which include a progressive Income-tax structure and increased spending on food, health, education, housing and social security,” the minister said.