Wealth of 100 richest Indians pegged at $300 bn by Forbes

WASHINGTON - The net worth of 100 wealthiest Indians is estimated at $300 billion by Forbes Magazine, which ranks the two Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, first and sixth respectively in its latest rich list.

London-based steel magnate and chairman of Arcelor-Mittal Lakshmi N. Mittal was ranked second on the list, while software major Wipro’s chief Azim Premji came next in the list of 100 richest Indians.

Last year, the combined wealth of the 100 wealthiest Indians was estimated at $276 billion. The jump, despite the global gloom, indicates India’s continued march as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies led by a strong corporate performance.

But the four richest Indians are now worth a combined $86 billion, well short of the $180 billion record they set three years ago, amid the stock market boom and an economic growth of over 9 percent.

In the list, Savitri Jindal was the only woman to make it to the top 10, with her wealth estimated at $14.4 billion. Forbes has pegged Mukesh Ambani’s wealth at $27 billion, Mittal’s at $26.1 billion, Premji’s at $17.6 billion and Anil Ambani’s at $13.3 billion.

India’s rising stock market and a booming economy, which is forecast to expand 8.5 percent this fiscal, swelled the net worth of the 100 richest, as evidenced by the fact that 69 of them are now billionaires — 17 more than last year.

A notable gainer is Ajay Piramal in the life sciences business who ranked 37th with $1.75 billion. He also spoke about his plans in the cover story of Forbes Asia after selling a part of his company to US-headquartered Abbott Labs for nearly $4 billion.

Also a winner this year is 45-year old media mogul Kalanithi Maran. Ranked at 17th place with a net worth of $4 billion, up 74 percent from last year’s $2.3 billion, Maran is the biggest gainer in percentage terms.

A few months ago, he acquired more than a third of budget airline SpiceJet.