Mukesh Ambani ranked first in Forbes list of 100 richest Indian tycoons. This is the eighth time in a row that the Chairman of Reliance Industries has topped the list. Last year, Ambani’s net worth was $21.0 billion which now became $23.6 billion.
Top 5 billionaires
The next name in the list is of Sun Pharmaceuticals’ Dilip Shanghvi who increased his net worth by $4.1 billion in a year. Last year, this position was held by Lakshmi Mittal who is now the fifth with $15.8 billion. Azim Premji of Wipro also gained a position and ranked third as against fourth last year. His net wealth increased by $2.6 billion in a year to reach at $16.4 billion. The fourth in the list is Pallonji Mistrywith net wealth of $15.9 billion.
Top 20 in the list
The next five in the list, after Lakshmi Mittal, in the order are Hinduja Brothers with net wealth of $13.3 billion, Shiv Nadar with $12.5 billion, Godrej family with $11.6 billion, Kumar Birla with $9.2 billion and Sunil Mittal and family with $7.8 billion.Among top 20 there are entrepreneurs like Savitri Jindal, Cyrus Poonawalla, Anil Ambani, Uday Kotak, etc.
Gainers in the list
For the first time, all the 100 names mentioned in the list are billionaires. Forbes expressed its delight by saying “good days are here.” The total wealth of all the 100 billionaires is $346 billion. In 2013, the total wealth of top 100 was $259 billion. This year there is an increase of more than 33%.
After Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) landslide victory in May, the share market moved up by 28% since January. This soared up the net worth of the uber-rich in the country. The biggest benefiter of this is Adani Group’s Gautam Adani. He moved up 11 places to reach at the 11th rank. His net worth increased by $4.5 billion, this year. He has a net worth of $7.1 billion. According to Forbes, the shares of his company were increasing even before the election, in anticipation of BJP’s win.
Over 20 names in the list of 100 belong to pharma and health care business. P.V. Ramprasad Reddy who held the 54th position in the list returned after four years. 89 names from last year have been repeated this year. Out of these, 85 have become richer than the past.
First time billionaires include Havells’ Chairman, Qimat Rai Gupta on 48th position with net worth of $1.95 billion, Founder of Cafe Coffee Day, V. G. Siddhartha at 75th position with $1.27 billion, Harsh Goenka at 82nd position with $1.18 billion and Sanjiv Goenka at 69th position with $1.4 billion.
Others who again became billionaires after a gap are Vikas Oberoi at 84th position with $1.2 billion and Habil Khorakiwala at 76th position with $1.3 billion
Losers in the list
Founder of Indus Gas, Ajay Kalsi was the biggest loser, this year. He lost $1 billion and held the 85th position after government postponed the decision of increasing India’ natural gas prices. Brij Bhushan Singal of Bhushan Steels and Vijay Mallya failed to make it to the list, this year.