According to the Hurun India Rich List 2023, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has surpassed Adani Group’s Gautam Adani to become the richest Indian.
Adani was Rs 3 lakh crore ahead of Ambani in 2022. However, Ambani overcame the deficit and surpassed it in 2023, when his fortune was Rs 3.3 lakh greater.
Adani, 61, has risen from sixth in 2019 to second in 2023, with his wealth increasing fivefold. In the last five years, Ambani’s wealth has expanded 2.1 times, while Poonwalla and family’s wealth has tripled.
Cyrus Poonawalla maintained his third place on the list. Shiv Nadar, 78, of HCL Tech, remained fourth on the list, with his wealth increasing 23% in the last year.
Only two of the top ten individuals on the list saw their fortunes erode. According to data, Adani’s fortune has decreased by 57%, while Radhakishan Damani’s wealth has decreased by 18%.
Poonawalla & family saw the biggest absolute gains in the recent year, with an addition of Rs 73,100 crore.
Zepto founder Kaivalya Vohra, 20, is the list’s youngest member. Byju’s founder, Byju Raveendran, left the list as a result of investor markdowns.
The pharmaceutical industry had the most entrepreneurs on the list, with 133, followed by chemicals and petrochemicals and industrial products, which had 109 and 96 entrepreneurs, respectively.
Radha Vembu of Zoho surpassed Falguni Nayar of Nykaa to become the wealthiest self-made Indian woman on the list. Meanwhile, Confluent founder Neha Narkhede, 38, is the list’s youngest self-made woman.
Ratan Tata is the most followed entrepreneur in India, with 12.6 million followers on X, followed by Anand Mahindra, who has roughly 10.8 million followers.
Even though the average wealth of those on the list fell by 9.3%, their cumulative worth climbed by 8.5%.
Mahendra Ratilal Mehta of Precision Wires India made his debut on the list at the age of 94.
According to Hurun, India added two new billionaires every three weeks in the last year and today has 259 billionaires, a 4.4-fold growth in 12 years.
Amid concerns about inequities, the report stated that 51 people had their fortune quadruple this year, compared to 24 the previous year.
Mumbai topped the India Rich list with 328 individuals, followed by New Delhi (199) and Bengaluru (100); for the first time, it said, adding that Tiruppur debuted in the top 20 cities producing the most newcomers.
With a fortune of Rs 3,000 crore, industry veteran Manish Kejriwal of Kedaara Capital has become the first person from the private equity sector to make the list of richest Indians.