Subodh Gupta, Online Marketing Consultant - http://www.subodhgupta.co.uk
Page41 300 Millions Middle Class Indians
http://www.subodhgupta.co.uk/articles/9/1/Page41-300-Millions-Middle-Class-Indians/Page1.html
Subodh Gupta
Subodh Gupta
Subodh Gupta
Writer and Journalist

 
By Subodh Gupta
Published on 10/3/2008
 

Myth about 300 million middle class Indians Purchasing power


Myth about 300 million middle class Indians Purchasing power

Sometimes I am really surprised when I hear or read the news that there is some strong 300 million middle class consumer base in India who has almost same purchasing power as middle classes income group people in USA or in Europe.

Well to put it straight, I completely disagree and would like to say that there is no such 300 million middle class consumer base in India who has same purchasing power as middle income group European or American at least till now year 2008.

Also the spending power of middle and high income group Indians is highly overestimated by experts from eminent consulting organizations.

The reason for this is that people who are making these reports sit in their offices without ever actually going out to the Indian marketplace and have never tried to look into the Indian consumer mind.

Let’s understand the myth of high purchasing power;

In India till now the total number of people who pay income tax is about only 31.5 million that is only about 3 % of the total Indian population. India has 31.5 million taxpayers; In a country of over a billion people, only 31.5 million people pay taxes, and this is after the number of taxpayers has grown by nearly 11 percent between March 2002 and March 200638. Now in India people start paying tax only when.....