The Richest Indians In The Forbes' List

Thursday, November 19, 2009, 10:25

The head of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani once again claims the title of the richest Indian. His net worth is put at 32 billion dollars, an increase of 54 percent from nearly 21 billion dollars last year. This made him the wealthiest person in accordance to Forbes' India Rich List.

Mukesh's estranged brother, Anil Ambani has been pushed to the third place with a net worth of 17.5 billion dollars, 40 percent, higher than before. Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of 30 billion dollars, up 46 percent from 20.5 billion dollars, comes in between the brothers. Azim Premji has moved up to Number 4 position.

The Ruia brothers with a net worth of 13.6 billion dollars have made it to number 5 this year. Sunil Mittal has moved down from Number 4 to Number 8. The richest newcomers are two brothers from Torrent Power -- Sudhir and Samir Mehta, ranked 23 at 2.02 billion dollars.

The combined net worth of India's 100 richest people is 276 billion dollars, almost a quarter of the country's GDP. Last year, there were only 27 billionaires on the India Rich List. This year, the number has almost doubled to 52 — two short of what India had at the peak of the stock market boom in 2007.

It seems happy days are definitely back again for India's richest. This year's list shows yet again that when conditions in the financial markets and the economy are right, India has the scale and resources to produce billionaires faster than most of the countries on earth. The substantial jump in net worth is clear evidence that entrepreneurial capitalism is alive and kicking in India.

The growth in wealth creation has been broad-based. Entrepreneurs from a wide variety of sectors comprise the list. A rebounding stock market that gained two-thirds in the past year and an economy growing at 6% have boosted the net worth of India's richest people. The Forbes India cover story highlights how 2009 has been a turnaround year for the rich in India.

The list is an indicator of how India's billionaires have done better than their counterparts in other parts of the world. The three richest Indians are worth 79.5 billion dollars. It takes 24 Chinese billionaires to be worth 80 billion dollars.

The top 10 richest in India are:

1. Mukesh Ambani 32 billion dollars

2. Lakshmi Mittal 30 billion dollars

3. Anil Ambani 17.5 billion dollars

4. Azim Premji 14.9 billion dollars

5. Shashi & Ravi Ruia 13.6 billion dollars

6. KP Singh 13.5 billion dollars

7. Savitri Jindal 12 billion dollars

8. Sunil Mittal 8.2 billion dollars

9. Kumar Birla 7.8 billion dollars

10. Gautam Adani 6.4 billion dollars