India’s economy is booming, with the number of millionaires and billionaires rising by the day. According to a research by Bain and Co, there are over 115,000 high-net worth individuals in India Today, more than 400 million people live below the poverty line in India (using the World Bank poverty definition of living on less than $1.25 a day). The global meltdown has pushed an additional 25 million to 40 million citizens below the poverty line. India’s wealthiest are the less generous than India’s high class and middle class. The wealthy of China and Brazil are more stingy than India.
The wealthiest have the lowest level of giving at 1.6 % of household income. While the ‘high class’, which is ranked one level below the ‘upper class’ on the income and education scale, donates 2.1% to charity, the middle class gives 1.9% of household income to philanthropy
The charitable initiatives in India accounted to about $7.5 billion in 2009, according to the study, equivalent to about 0.6 per cent of the country’s GDP. The rate is higher than Brazil’s 0.3 per cent and rival China’s 0.1 per cent, but lags behind United States which is 2.2% and 1.3% in Britain.
In China and India 90% of the donations are made by the government.
12 page report, Overview of Philanthropy in India