India's 100 richest are all billionaires, says Forbes

Mukesh Ambani has been valued at a net worth of $23.6 billion

For the first time, the 100 richest tycoons in India are all billionaires, with Mukesh Ambani topping the league, according to Forbes.

With a net worth of $23.6 billion, up $2.6 billion from past year, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani topped the list for an eighth consecutive year. Ambani was followed by Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, who got richer by $4.1 billion this year. Shanghvi is at number 2, after he displaced steel baron Lakshmi Mittal ($15.8 billion), who slipped to fifth place.

Wipro Chairman Azim Premji moved up one notch to the number three position as his net wealth increased to $16.4 billion from $13.8 billion previously. Pallonji Mistry, patriarch of construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group, the biggest shareholder in Tata Sons with a new worth of $15.9 billion, was placed in the fourth place.

Forbes said “good days are here” for the India’s 100 Richest, as the top 100 richest Indians were all billionaires with combined wealth of $346 billion, up more than a third from $259 billion in 2013.

Propelled by the euphoria after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in May, the stock market has gained 28 per cent since January, driving the net-worth of the uber-rich people in India.

The biggest dollar gainer is ports magnate Gautam Adani, who jumped 11 spots to 11th rank in the list, adding nearly $4.5 billion to his wealth that reached $7.1 billion on soaring share prices.

Others in the top 10 include non-resident Indian businessmen Hinduja Brothers who were at the sixth position with a net worth of $13.3 billion, followed by Shiv Nadar (seventh, $12.5 billion), Godrej family (eighth, $11.6 billion), Kumar Birla (ninth, $9.2 billion) and Sunil Mittal & family (10th, $7.8 billion).

As many as 85 of the 89 who returned to the top 100 from last year are wealthier, and several are billionaires for the first time. Among them are Havells chairman Qimat Rai Gupta (ranked 48, net worth $1.95 billion), founder of the Cafe Coffee Day chain V G Siddhartha (75, $1.27 billion), and brothers Harsh Goenka (82, $1.18 billion) and Sanjiv Goenka (69, $1.4 billion), who run their independent empires and are listed separately.

Mallya drops out of the list
UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya is no longer a member of India's 100 richest club.

Mallya, who has been declared as ‘wilful defaulter’ by lenders following huge debts on his Kingfisher Airlines, is missing from Forbes’ latest list of 100 richest released on Thursday. He was ranked at 84th position in 2013, with a net worth of $800 million.

On Adani who was placed 11th on the list, Forbes said he snatched the biggest bonanza from the stock market rally.

"Snatching the biggest bonanza is ports magnate Gautam Adani, who hails from Modi's native Gujarat state and is known to be the PM's personal friend," Forbes said.

The rising market also restored some to the billionaire ranks, including property baron Vikas Oberoi (84, $1.2 billion) and pharma entrepreneur Habil Khorakiwala (76, $1.3 billion), Forbes said.

The list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and India's regulatory agencies.

The ranking listed family fortunes, including those shares among extended families such as the Godrej and Bajaj families.