3 min readAug 3, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Aug 3, 2026 at 06:05 AM ISTThere are several markers of a dramatic explosion in the income and wealth of a small cohort in India over the last few years. For instance, according to the finance ministry’s reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the number of individuals earning more than a billion rupees — those with reported gross total incomes of Rs 100 crore or more — has grown from 142 in 2021-22 (assessment year) to 576 in 2025-26. The number of dollar millionaires in the country has been pegged at 9,44,000 as per the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026, putting India in the same league as Switzerland, and only slightly lower than Spain. Yet, alongside the vaulting fortunes of a few is the continuing struggle of the vast majority to make ends meet.In 2025, the average salary/wage of regular employees (in the preceding month) was pegged at Rs 22,699 per month or Rs 2.7 lakh for the full year, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey. In 2022, it stood at Rs 2.31 lakh. In the case of casual wage labour, the average daily wage was just Rs 453 in 2025. Sluggish employment and wage growth for a sizeable section, alongside the rapid income expansion at the top, has meant that the overall consumption base isn’t expanding fast enough, just the top segment is. This is reconfiguring consumption dynamics. It is telling that, as per a report from Kotak Mutual Fund, Apple India’s revenue is “nearly catching up with legacy giants like Hindustan Unilever Limited despite serving a much smaller base”.AdvertisementPathways for upward mobility appear to be shrinking. The Indian IT sector — which has traditionally provided millions an opportunity to move up the ladder — is now facing the AI threat. And unlike in the development trajectory of China and other East Asian economies, manufacturing is not generating employment on the scale needed to absorb the millions entering the labour force. In recent years, some of the fastest-growing job avenues have been in low-productivity segments such as delivery riders and security guards. For instance, the total number of riders on the Zomato and Blinkit platforms has risen to 10 lakh. In the case of Zepto, they have gone up to 2.21 lakh in 2026, from 49,278 in 2024. The recent protests over exam leaks, agitations against the Railway recruitment process in the past, and the sheer numbers of those applying for government jobs every year reflect the underlying anxieties of millions over access to quality education and jobs. This comes at a time when India is in a unique demographic window. The government needs to facilitate the creation of more education and employment opportunities urgently.