India’s millionaire map is being redrawn. While Mumbai and Delhi are the country’s largest wealth centres, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are emerging as powerful engines of affluence, reflecting the rise of southern India as a hub for both technology and manufacturing.
According to the Mercedes-Benz Hurun India Wealth Report 2025, Tamil Nadu now has 72,600 millionaire households, up 75% since 2021, while Karnataka is home to 68,800 millionaires, an 88% increase over the same period. Together, the two states account for over 16% of India’s total millionaire households, underscoring a shift in the geography of prosperity.
Bengaluru and Chennai at the forefront
The surge is concentrated in urban centres. Bengaluru alone accounts for 31,600 millionaire households, nearly half of Karnataka’s total, fueled by IT services, startups, and venture-backed exits. Tamil Nadu’s wealth is more diversified but still led by Chennai, which contributes about a third of the state’s millionaires, anchored in automobile manufacturing, textiles, and industrial exports.
The report notes the number of active companies in Karnataka rose around 40% between 2021 and 2024, while Tamil Nadu saw a 36% increase. This expansion reflects the formalisation of the economy and the role of entrepreneurship in creating new wealth.
Strong economic backdrop
Both states have posted robust economic growth. Tamil Nadu’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) grew about 52% between 2020–21 and 2023–24, reaching Rs 27.2 lakh crore. Karnataka’s GSDP climbed about 56% to Rs 25.6 lakh crore over the same period. These growth rates outpace many larger Indian states and are comparable in scale to mid-sized global economies.
Tax collections provide another signal. Karnataka’s income tax receipts represent about 9% of its GSDP—one of the highest ratios in the country—reflecting the dominance of high-salaried IT professionals and corporate profits. Tamil Nadu’s ratio is lower but improving as industrial growth accelerates.
The South’s rising affluence has clear consequences for markets. Demand for premium housing, healthcare, private education, and luxury consumption is expected to deepen in Bengaluru, Chennai, and surrounding industrial towns.
Wealth managers and financial firms are also eyeing the region’s first-generation entrepreneurs and professionals, whose risk appetite and liquidity cycles differ from Mumbai’s finance-heavy clientele.
For policymakers, the findings highlight the need to invest in infrastructure—airports, schools, and urban leisure spaces—that can support the aspirations of the growing affluent class.
Sustained wealth creation in the South will also depend on whether local enterprises can scale into global champions, a step necessary to translate millionaires into more ultra-high-net-worth individuals and billionaires.
Redrawing India’s wealth map
India’s millionaire households have grown 445% since 2017, but the rise of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka stands out for both its speed and breadth.
The South’s wealth is less about inherited assets and more about businesses built in the past two decades, from IT startups in Bengaluru to auto clusters in Chennai.
The result is a shift in India’s wealth geography: where once prosperity was concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi, today the South is firmly establishing itself as the country’s second great centre of affluence.
Edited by Suman Singh
