Middle class nearly 1/3rd of India’s popn, to be 2/3rds by 2047: Report

MIDDLE CLASS BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR IN TERMS OF INCOME, SPENDING AND SAVINGS

- Surojit.Gupta

New Delhi:The share of the middle class, with an annual income of Rs 5 lakh-30 lakh, more than doubled from 14% in 2004-05 to 31% last year, and is projected to rise to 46% in eight years and 63% by 2047, according to survey results by economic research outfit PRICE (People Research on India’s Consumer Economy), riding on the wave of reforms and economic expansion.

“By 2047, if political and economic reforms have their desired effect, the India income pyramid will have a smallish layer at the bottom comprising the destitute and aspirer groups, a huge bulge of the middle class and a big creamy ‘rich’ layer on top,” says Rajesh Shukla, MD and CEO of PRICE and author of the report titled: “The Rise of India’s Middle Class”. Shukla says defining this enigmatic “middle” has always been problematic for both academicians and marketers.