India seems to be full of millionaires. If a 2 bedroom flat in south Delhi costs Rs 20 million then there must be people ready to pay that kind of money. Who are these people? Half the cost of the flat must be paid in cash or black money and, say, another 10% by check while the rest is paid over 20 years through a housing loan. This means that Rs 12 million has to be paid up front. A man earning Rs 1.2 million a year cannot save more than Rs 0.5 million a year after paying income tax, rent and cost of daily living. He will, therefore, take 24 years to save Rs 12 million before thinking of buying a flat in Delhi. There cannot be more than 10 million people in the whole of India who legally earn Rs 1.2 million a year, that is less than 1% of the population. So where is the demand coming from? In the Times of India of May 20 we learn that assets of Members of Parliament standing for re election in 2009 had gone up by 289% in the previous 5 years while in the same period investment in gold gave returns of 138%, mutual funds gave 67%, Sensex gave 64% and fixed deposits gave 46%. In last month's assembly elections members had increased their assets by 195% in Tamil Nadu, 187% in Assam, 175% in Kerala and 71% in West Bengal. Then there are millions of useless parasitic civil servants whose salaries were increased by up to 80% in 2008 and earn millions through bribes and theft. Shopkeepers pay no tax. When asked them to pay a nominal tax of Rs 1500 a year not one responded. Farm income is totally tax free which is why lots of politicians are " farmers". Which is also why the RBI cannot control black money. Fact.