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The rising outflow of India’s millionaires reflects more than mobility—it signals a crisis of urban liveability and institutional neglect.
‘Millionaire migration,’ a trend in which many high-net-worth individuals leave their motherland to migrate abroad, has seen a disquieting rise in India recently. In 2023, 283,000 Indians with a net worth of over US$3 million left the country. While there were signs of outbound millionaire migration temporarily slowing, the trend is likely to continue, and 430,000 individuals with a total wealth of over US$40 billion are likely to leave by 2028. A survey by Kotak Private and Ernst & Young (EY) estimated that 22 percent of the super-rich in India were considering leaving the country.
While there were signs of outbound millionaire migration temporarily slowing, the trend is likely to continue, and 430,000 individuals with a total wealth of over US$40 billion are likely to leave by 2028.
Several other countries also follow suit, with China and the United Kingdom (UK) topping the chart, followed by India, South Korea, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Taiwan, Nigeria, and Vietnam. For those from the UK, their preferred migration destinations were Paris, Dubai, Amsterdam, Monaco, Geneva, Sydney, Singapore, and the tranquil serenity of Florida, the Algarve, Malta, and the Italian Riviera. However, in general, the top 10 countries that were receiving millionaire migrants were the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States (US), Singapore, Canada, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal, and Japan.
A host of reasons is prompting a majority of rich Indians to leave, or even consider leaving as an option. These reasons comprise sub-standard urban living conditions in India, the availability of better living conditions abroad, a healthier and less intrusive business environment in different countries, easier access to global business networks, better healthcare solutions, quality of education, and opportunities for their children, as well as better resilience to climate change than Indian cities. Many Indians have shown a propensity to move to the UAE, courtesy of the Emirates’ zero-tax policy and low value-added tax (VAT) on goods and services. The list of countries also comprises Australia, Singapore, the US, and Switzerland.
One of the primary reasons for the departure of the super-rich from India is the superior infrastructure cities abroad offer—better roads, shorter daily commutes, cleaner air, greater cleanliness, more dependable municipal services, and enhanced safety.
By contrast, the Chinese have different reasons for seeking destinations outside of their own country. A primary cause is the overall decline in wealth growth in China over the past few years. While China recorded high growth between 2000 and 2017, the number of millionaires began to plateau. The rich Chinese prefer to move to Singapore, the US, Canada and, surprisingly, Japan, seeking greater wealth hike.
One of the primary reasons for the departure of the super-rich from India is the superior infrastructure cities abroad offer—better roads, shorter daily commutes, cleaner air, greater cleanliness, more dependable municipal services, and enhanced safety.
India’s top cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, and Lucknow, which house most of India’s super-rich, contribute the most to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While they are also the costliest cities, the cost of living is not a contributory factor to the millionaire migration.
However, the quality of life in these cities has been declining. As soon as the super-rich leave the comfort of their private homes, they must partake in the reality around them—uneven and potholed roads, unclean surroundings, long commute times, traffic congestion, and poor air quality. Many of India’s top cities rank among the world’s most congested cities. Over the past few years, most Indian cities have also experienced flooding, disrupting daily life for several days each year.
Given the universal governance, planning, and financial weaknesses of Indian cities, they are unable to satisfactorily address the emerging challenges of infrastructure atrophy, unplanned growth, stressed mobility, and the consequences of climate change. Neither do they appear equipped to expand their infrastructure as their populations rise. In view of the intransigence of states in pursuing any meaningful reforms that would radically improve municipal functioning, any chance of substantial citywide improvements in the quality of life is growing increasingly remote. The consequences are quite apparent: an increasingly higher number of wealthy Indians who can afford to move abroad are choosing to leave the country. There is ample evidence that, despite their love for their own country, they may prefer to secure their own futures and those of their families.
Given the universal governance, planning, and financial weaknesses of Indian cities, they are unable to satisfactorily address the emerging challenges of infrastructure atrophy, unplanned growth, stressed mobility, and the consequences of climate change.
In such circumstances, one alternative that could provide an international-quality of life for residents in India would be to allow the erection of private cities, operated under a set of specific laws and principles to serve these objectives. This is already happening in parts of existing cities in the form of enclaves that function as ‘gated communities’ with amenities of an order not available to those living outside. However, as described above, their utility stops as soon as an individual steps outside the gated community boundary.
Private cities could be planned and governed with a different approach to serve the interests of their inhabitants. Their planning, governance laws, and local taxation could be separate, with a clear focus on maintaining a high quality of life, entirely supported by its residents and administered by a management handpicked by the private entity that creates the city. Any services rendered to the city by the state from outside should also be funded by the city itself, with no cross-subsidisation made available from the public exchequer. They would be provided at cost by the government. These, for instance, could include water from public water dams, power from public power grids, public transport, and other essential services.
The aim here is not to promote the notion of 'charter cities,' where a new urban area is established and governed by another country under laws and governance arrangements specifically designed for that city. The idea is to further an altered Special Economic Zone (SEZ) concept, where economic rules and regulations differ substantially from those applicable to the rest of the country, with an enhanced focus on quality of life. These cities could serve as special governance zones where municipal laws governing them differ from those of the rest of the country. They would function within the boundaries of the Indian Constitution and most of the country’s laws, except the municipal laws. However, they would be more akin to a business enterprise than a municipality in their governance arrangements, with powers to determine their functions, how they would raise finances, and how much. A chairman would head the Board that governs them. They would have their own chief executive, who would, in turn, select the various functionaries. Anyone who lives within such cities would be a signatory to these arrangements.
Private cities could be planned and governed with a different approach to serve the interests of their inhabitants.
Such a structure deserves to be tried, since normal cities are not urbanised enough at the time. The new arrangement would be better equipped to prevent the migration of talent and money to foreign destinations. They may look elitist, but if such cities can prevent out-migration, the nation would be in net profit. The Government of India must consider this as a central experiment in any Union Territory, where the states may not obstruct such experimentation.
Ramanath Jha is a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
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Dr. Ramanath Jha is Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai. He works on urbanisation — urban sustainability, urban governance and urban planning. Dr. Jha belongs ...
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