Narendra Modi was born on17 September 1950, in Vadnagar Bombay (now Gujarat) India, into a modest family of grocers. However, an interest in politics and debating from an early age sees Modi having climbed through the political ranks, and he is now the Prime Minister of India, by population the largest democracy in the world. Leading such a country has Forbes magazine ranking Narendra Modi as the 15th most powerful person in the world in 2015, and 5th on the magazine’s list of world’s greatest leaders.
So just how rich is Narendra Modi? Sources estimate that Modi’s net worth in 2015 is, for such an important leader, a relatively modest $300,000, with his wealth having been accumulated during his long career of nearly 40 years in politics.
Narendra Modi Net Worth $300,000
Narendra Modi was an average student, such that he deferred tertiary studies for some years, and left home after high school to wander northern India, and supposedly to avoid an arranged marriage. During this period he met members of the RSS – translated National Patriotic Organisation – a non-political grouping but supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and became interested sufficiently to subsequently study political science and graduate first with a BA from Delhi University, and then with a MA from Gujarat University.
During the 70s, the Congress Party ruled India, and effectively banned political dissent, such that Narendra Modi was obliged to work clandestinely at times to spread alternate views for the BJP, but in 1988 he was elected secretary of the BJP in Gujarat, an influential position which then saw him mastermind a BJP state victory in 1995, after which he moved to Delhi as the national secretary of the BJP. As can be seen, there is little in Modi’s career to suggest significant contributions to his net worth.
National responsibilities did not totally distract Narendra Modi from state issues, and a crisis in Gujarat saw him become Chief Minister there in 2001, following the resignation of Keshubhai Pate because of poor health and subsequent to allegations of corruption and abuse of power against the BJP, a position he was to hold for a record period. He led the BJP to victory by a very small majority in assembly elections the following year, on a platform promoting privatisation and small government, but later that year won a general election, securing two-thirds of the seats, a victory repeated with a similar margin in 2007, and again in 2012 with almost as large a majority. In terms of net worth, Narendra Modi has stated that his annual salary as Chief Minister was never more than 150,000 rupees ($2,500) per year.
India was subjected to numerous terrorist attacks and civil disturbances during the period 2001-2010, and Narendra Modi’s firm handling of these crises, especially in Gujarat with its 1200km open coastline, earned him considerable praise and support. He was also instrumental in securing investment funds from such countries as Japan, China and Singapore, thus significantly improving the economy overall and employment.
In 2013, Narendra Modi was appointed to the BJP parliamentary board and central election campaign committee for the 2014: the BJP won an overall majority, and Narendra Modi was unanimously elected leader of the BJP, and therefore appointed Prime Minister by the President. Since then, Narendra Modi has continued his philosophy of encouraging investment to improve the economic well-being of India, frequently described now as an ‘emerging economy’ on the world stage.
Not so importantly perhaps, how much is the Prime Minister paid? Just $30,000 per year, but actually making him the 11th highest paid political world leader (USA President #1 at $400,000).
In his personal life, Narendra Modi married Jashodaben Chimanlal in a traditional, arranged marriage in1968, although allegedly the marriage was never consummated and they have lived apart, with Narendra acknowledging his wife only in 2014.
