Dhirubhai Pips Ratan Tata In Wealth Stakes

Dhirubhai Ambani has edged ahead of Ratan Tata in the wealth stakes, according to a leading British newspaper.

Ambani and family rank 77th with a fortune worth 700 million, in a list of Asia's 100 richest billionaires published by the Sunday Times. Tata, who is reckoned by the newspaper to be worth 600 million, ranks 84th.

The extent to which India has been overtaken by other Asian countries is demonstrated by the fact that only three Indian families figure on the list of richest Asians. The three predictable names on the list are Kumara-mangalam Birla and family who take the 50th spot, Ambani and Tata.

 

Kumarmangalam Birla is reckoned to be worth 1.2 billion.

However, the newspaper does hold out hope for fast growth in the future. "India, with its vast economic potential, may well have many more than its current handful of billionaires before the decade is out," it said.

The report also points out that Indian figures should be adjusted for purchasing power. The paper has based its report on a recently published book, Asia's Wealth Club, by writer Geoffrey Hiscock.

The rapid economic progress of the South-East Asian Tigers is shown by the number of billionaires they are suddenly throwing up. Malaysia, which has surged ahead economically in the last few years now has 15 billionaires on the list.

Similarly, Thailand has 13. And Hong Kong, which will soon become part of China's Communist orbit, has 13 of Asia's top 100 richest families. Even the Philippines, a comparative laggard in the growth stakes, has 12 billionaires.

Nevertheless, India's business families are still reckoned to be a key group in the Asian money game. The newspaper says, "There are six big economic groups in Asia which thrive on networking". According to it, one of this is, "the Indians, with their family dynasties". Also, it says, "only India challenges the Chinese for family empires".

Topping the list of Asian billionaires is the world's richest man, the Sultan of Brunei who is reckoned to be worth a staggering 18.3 billion. Coming in a distant second is the Kwok family who are Hong Kong property tycoons with a fortune worth 8.3 billion.

Running a country also helps to get a family on the billionaires list. Indonesia's Suharto family has zoomed meteorically in the last few years and now has a fortune worth 3.9 billion. The Suharto family comes in ninth on the list.

Not surprisingly, it is the expatriate Chinese who are the richest people across Asia. The report says, "These (overseas) Chinese...constitute an economic force of such magnitude that only America and Japan generate a larger gross domestic product".

The Chinese are, according to the report, a group with links that transcend national borders. "It is networking on a grand scale. A Singaporean Chinese trader, for example, may have family connections in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Fujian for Vietnam that remove the need for traditional banking services when it comes to shifting funds across borders".