Everyone’s setting sail for India. At a scorching 9.4% per annum, India's economy is booming and
has now swelled to a trillion dollars, making it only the 12th nation to reach this milestone.
YO HO HO and a bottle of Cheval Blanc
Statistics show that the luxury goods market in India is pegged at Rs. 24 billion and continues to grow at 30-32% p.a. It is expected to climb up to Rs. 50 billion by 2010. As more and more super-luxury brands like Porsche, Rolls Royce, Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer, Bvlgari, Chanel, Fossil, Dunhill, Escada, Bang and Olufsen and others drop anchor in Indian shores, today’s brand conscious Indian is going overboard in his urge to splurge. Here’s why:
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In 2007, there were an estimated 1,20,000 Indians with assets over US$ 1 million.
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13,000 new Indian US$ millionaires were added in the past year alone - a 15% p.a. increase over the previous year.
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India has the second-fastest growing HNI population in the world, growing at 19.3% p.a. (Source: CapGemini - Meryll Lynch Study)
Dropping Anchor in Mumbai
With a population in excess of 12 million, Mumbai is said to have more millionaires per square mile than Manhattan. That apart, there are many
more reasons why it makes sense for India’s largest boat show to dock
in Mumbai:
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Mumbai is known as the ‘Gateway to India.’
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It is India's commercial and business hub.
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It accounts for 16% of India's income tax collection and 35% of India's corporate tax collection.
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Mumbai has a natural harbour with miles of sheltered coastline with great places to sail to.
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The city houses the mega-rich diamond, finance, IT and film industries.
(Bollywood is the world's largest film producing centre.)
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Mumbai is home to the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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The BSE Sensex has broken all records and has crossed the 15,000 mark as of the third quarter of 2007.
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Mumbai is home to the highest number of corporate headquarters and is home to the scions of some of India's largest private enterprises like the Tata Group, the Reliance Group, the Aditya Birla Group, ICICI Bank, HSBC Bank, etc.
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It has a strong boating heritage with the 3rd oldest yacht club in the world, the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, set up in 1846.
