Indian CMs have assets worth over Rs 30 crore on an average: ADR report

Collective assets across states and union territories have crossed Rs 1,000 crore

Chief ministers in India own assets worth Rs 33.96 crore on average, with the wealth of most having risen significantly over the past five years.

The average increase in the wealth of chief ministers of 30 states and union territories for which data was available between 2018 and 2023 was 384 per cent, shows an analysis of numbers from studies by trackers Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW). The average Indian earns less than Rs two lakh a year, based on per capita net national income data from the government.

Of the 30 incumbent chief ministers in India today, 29 are crorepatis in terms of their declared assets. The study analysed the poll affidavits of the CMs of 28 states and two Union Territories filed before contesting their last elections. A similar report in 2018 found that 25 of the then 31 serving CMs were crorepatis.

Chief ministers across states are getting richer as their collective wealth has doubled in the five years between 2018 and 2023. The total value of assets owned by 30 CMs with data across both years has increased from Rs 501 crore in 2018 to over Rs 1,000 crore in 2023.

Consequently, the average assets owned per CM has also risen from Rs 16 crore in 2018 to Rs 33.96 crore in 2023 (see chart 1).

The report found that Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was the richest CM with assets worth over Rs 500 crore, followed by Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 160 crore) and Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik with Rs 64 crore (see chart 2). The only CM who isn’t a crorepati is Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal--incidentally, also the only serving woman CM (see chart 3).