By Anuj Suvarna
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Mumbai is home to 1.42 lakh millionaire households, more than Delhi and Bengaluru combined, underscoring the city’s enduring dominance as India’s financial capital, according to the Mercedes-Benz Hurun India Wealth Report 2025.
The financial hub continues to tower over other Indian cities in wealth concentration. Maharashtra, India’s richest state, accounts for 1.78 lakh millionaire households, nearly a fifth of the national total, with Mumbai contributing close to four out of five.
The number has surged 194% since 2021, reflecting both the strength of the state’s economy and the scale of Mumbai’s financial ecosystem.
The city’s position is reinforced by its role as the headquarters of India’s banking, capital markets, and regulatory institutions. Home to the Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the National Stock Exchange, Mumbai remains the country’s central node for capital formation and corporate activity.
Maharashtra’s gross state domestic product rose 55% between 2020–21 and 2023–24 to ₹40.56 lakh crore ($480 billion), according to the report. A buoyant stock market—Nifty 50 gained nearly 70% over the same period—has further expanded private fortunes concentrated in the city.
The number of active companies in the state also climbed 33% between 2021 and 2024, underlining the role of business growth in wealth creation.
Wealth gap with other cities
The report shows how Mumbai’s dominance compares with other major cities. Delhi has 68,200 millionaire households, less than half of Mumbai’s total, while Bengaluru accounts for 31,600, about one-fifth. Although Bengaluru has benefited from the IT boom and Delhi from real estate and trade, neither has matched Mumbai’s scale of corporate and financial wealth.
Overall, Mumbai accounts for 16% of India’s 8.71 lakh millionaire households, giving it the single largest concentration of affluence in the country.
For companies, Mumbai remains the biggest market for premium housing, luxury goods, private education, and financial services. For policymakers, the city’s concentration of wealth underscores both opportunity and challenge—while Mumbai attracts investment and talent, its dominance raises concerns about regional imbalances even as southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka expand their millionaire base.
Capital of wealth
India’s millionaire households have grown 90% since 2021, but the wealth map still tilts heavily toward Mumbai.
Even as Bengaluru’s startups and Delhi’s real estate developers fuel regional wealth creation, Mumbai’s mix of finance, corporates, and capital markets has kept it firmly at the top.
With 1.42 lakh millionaire households—more than its two closest rivals combined—Mumbai remains the epicentre of India’s affluence and one of Asia’s most concentrated wealth hubs.
(Edited by Jyoti Narayan)
