India dollar millionaires up by 42,800 in 2009

India added another 42,800 US dollar millionaires last year, taking the total number in the country to more than 127,000 and their tribe will only increase with economy showing strong signs of sustaining the momentum

But that is not all, India, China and other regional economies in the Asia-Pacific region are collectively set to overtake developed countries in the number of high net-worth individuals (HNIs), according to a report from wealth manager Merrill Lynch and consulting firm Capgemini.

''Moving forward, China and India will lead the way in the region with economic expansion and HNI growth likely to keep outpacing more developed economies'' it said.

The Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2010 notes that he total amount held in assets by Indian millionaires was more than $477 billion last year, up 53.6 per cent on the year.

''The increasing confidence by Indian HNIs facilitated by the strength of the underlying economy which grew 6.8 per cent in 2009 has resulted in a surge in HNI wealth in the region,'' said Pradeep Dokania, chairman, Merrill Lynch, Wealth Management, India.

Asia-Pacific outpaced Europe in the amount of wealth on play as the invested/investible corpus totalled $9.7 trillion, as against Europe's $9.3 trillion, according to the report.