India’s Rich Are the Most Eager for Yachts and Jets

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 10:59 AM PDT

With all the attention paid to outrageous purchases of the new Chinese rich–$1.5 million mastiffs, $2o,000 bottles of DRC–it is no wonder that conspicuous consumers in India might feel left behind.

: Agence France Presse/Getty Images; Force India owner Vijay Mallya’s yacht “Indian Empress” docks in Valencia, Spain, in 2008.

Fear not, pluto-Indians. A new study of the world's millionaires shows that India leads the world in planned spending on yachts and private jets.

A report from Citi Private Bank and Knight Frank shows that 64% of Indian millionaires who responded to the survey plan to increase their water-and-wings spending "significantly" in the next five years.

In second place was Africa, where half of respondents said they planned significant increases. Latin America ranked third, with 20%, followed by North America (18%), East Asia (17%), the Middle East (10%) and European wings and water.

The Russians, now the undisputed kings of the yachting seas, had zero respondents planning "significant" increases in spending. Half, however, planned a slight increase.

The India numbers could be explained by the fact that India hasn't spent much on yachts and planes, so any future increase would be "significant." Yet the Indian respondents also led the world in their yacht-and-plane spending over the past five years.

Half the Indian rich said their yacht-and-jet spending increased significantly in the past five years, equal with Russia.

What kind of yachts and planes do you think the newly rich Indians will favor?