The richest village in the world is Madhapar (Image: Getty)
A village in is said to be with wealth held by banks totalling some £650million.
Reports of figures vary, but one notes that villagers in Madhapar in the Indian state of Gujarat have deposits worth 7,000 crore.
NDTV says these are held as fixed deposits across the 17 banks in the village, including ICICI Bank and PNB.
Seven thousand crore is equal to 70 billion rupees, which at current rates is worth a staggering £648,808,440.
Times of India quotes a “smaller” figure of 5,000 crore, or 50 billion rupees, which is the equivalent of £462,748,450.
The village is filled with foreigners (Image: Wikipedia)
Despite the conflicting figures, what appears clear from the huge numbers is that villagers in Madhapar are not short of a bob or two.
The village is said to be one of India’s 664,369 villages and comprise of 7,600 households – which according to Times of India is “small” by the country’s standard.
NDTV reports there are almost 20,000 houses in Madhapar, with about 1,200 relatives of Madhaparans living and working overseas.
The same media outlet says the reason behind the village’s vast wealth is the result of non-resident Indian families whose members send remittances to Madhapar and make deposits in village banks.
According to , construction industy firms in central Africa are dominated by Gujaratis and have a large expat population in the region as well as in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
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Two economists say India has all but eliminated extreme poverty (Image: Getty)
Awash with so much money, Madhapar boasts schools, colleges, lakes, temples and health centres, according to the . It reports that most resident villagers work in agriculture, selling their produce across India. Crops include cotton and groundnuts.
The village’s reported wealth completely overturns old ideas of India’s countryside being marred by poverty. The country had been one of two in the world where the most people lived below the poverty line.
But two economists earlier this year concluded India has almost eliminated extreme poverty – along with neighbouring China.
Surjit Bhalla and Karan Bhasin reported that just 2% of India’s population live in extreme poverty, citing an Indian government report of survey results into household consumption.
The survey, which has been contested by some experts in part due to its data, found inequality falling in the last 11 years, with the gap in consumption narrowing in India’s cities and countryside.
New Delhi’s survey results also sparked calls for the poverty line measure to be raised from the depths of just $2.15 per day.