EDITORIAL

STREET SMART
The market’s incessant rise has encouraged companies to raise funds from the public

A CHECK ON PAY
Who got the biggest raises? Which company was most generous?

SHAKERS BUT NOT MARKET MOVERS
The ones who did not have to tap the market to get the numbers

BILLIONAIRE CLUB
A definitive list of India Inc’s richest

HIGHEST PAY PACKETS
List of the best paymasters

METHODOLOGY AND INDEX
How we estimated wealth and earnings of billionaires

BILLIONAIRE CLUB 2006
BILLIONAIRE CLUB 2005

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Of course, nothing can beat Sunil Mittal’s mansion, allegedly the largest private house in the city…which could be one reason he guards it like a fortress. And if you must settle for second-best, there are always the gated villas at Jaypee greens in Greater Noida, or DLF’s apartments, the Magnolia, which are good for that Versace furniture you picked up on your last shopping trip to Dubai.

And while their walk-in closets are teeming with Chanel, Burberry and Gucci, its the Brioni power suit that India Inc. is donning to the boardrooms. The one-of-a-kind Brioni is to the dresser what identical pin-striped Armani suits used to be. Shashikant Garware swears by it, as does Anand Mahindra. These made-to-order Italian beauties are 3,000 Euro a-piece and only 71,000 suits are hand-sewn each year by one of 1,200 tailors in a little Italian town called Abruzzo. Captain C P Nair, chairman Leela Hotels orders his make-to-measure, each of those can cost anywhere between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 12.5 lakh.

It isn’t easy to get an appointment with Daniel Williams, the master-cutter who does bespoke tailoring for Dunhill, but the suitmaker finds the time to come to India – and its billionaires – to measure up those who can afford his snips and cuts at prices that could well match a modest car. His diary is full, but is as tightly guarded as the Swiss vaults.

Immaculate wardrobes come in handy on holidays to resorts like the Palazzo Versace on Australia’s Gold Coast. The ultimate in designer hotels, from the vaulted ceilings hand detailed in gold to the 750 kg chandelier bought by Gianni Versace from the State Library in Milan to the pebbled mosaic in the driveway executed by artisans from six different Italian villages, Palazzo Versace is all flamboyance.

Mukesh and Nita Ambani will soon move into Antilia, a 27-floor (with the height of a 60-storeyed house) mansion with a mini theatre, car servicing centre and helipads on Mumbai’s Altamount Road

The hotel’s representative Rochelle Gomes was here to pitch the rooms, priced from Australian dollar (AUD) 500 to AUD 3500 per night, to high net-worth Indian honeymooners. “We’re already seeing significant visitor numbers from India,” she said.

Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) that designs and operates luxury travel programmes has opened three offices in India recently from where they pack discerning travellers off to Tuscan villas, rainforests in Papua New Guinea and Angkor Wat. According to a 2006 luxury report published by Technopak, 44 per cent of India’s luxury consumers (families with disposable income of more than Rs 8-9 lakh per annum) travel abroad for holiday at least once a year. Of course, it helps that the A&K’S managing director, a bit of an aficionado himself, can lead you on a rare skiing expedition.

And they’re purchasing art. The Maharaja himself, Vijay Mallya, is rumoured to hang Picasso and Salvador Dali originals on his walls, but most are content with Anjolie Ela Menons and F N Souzas. Neville Tuli of Osian’s says that roughly 15-20 per cent of all individuals investing in speculative art spend over Rs 1 crore annually. “These are not just corporate houses but include professionals such as investment bankers and IT professionals,” he says.

Hardly surprising, considering that some artists – not just the masters but also the younger contemporarys – sell for as much as Rs 5 crore a work of art. Even sculpture is getting its due with prices rising up to Rs 1 crore. The Saffronart autumn 2007 auction realised over Rs 14.5 crore, and witnessed an addition of approximately 25 per cent new buyers.

Business Standard • December 2007