There is a surprising addition to the Hurun India Rich List for 2013. Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, broke into the list in the third position, behind the expected leaders, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal.
Ambani maintained his numero uno position for the second straight year with a personal worth of $18.9 billion (a drop of two per cent from last year). Mittal, too, maintained his second rank; his personal wealth, at $15.9 billion, saw an erosion of six per cent, according to China-based publisher Hurun’s report.
Despite a 14 per cent drop in the rupee and continuing sluggishness in growth sentiments, Shanghvi’s wealth saw a mammoth 66 per cent increase and now stands at $14.1 billion. He displaced Wipro Chairman Azim Premji on the rich list. Premji’s wealth, at $12 billion, also decreased by two per cent.
Meanwhile, a 34 per cent increase in Anil Ambani’s wealth has pushed his ranking up to the 11{+t}{+h} position. He is now worth $7.1 billion.
While business tycoons rule the roost on this list, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is part of the “others” bracket. Khan, who owns Red Chillies Entertainment, stands 114{+t}{+h} on the list, with $400 million against his name.
Women, however, made up only four per cent of the list. With a fortune pegged at $5.1 billion, Savitri Jindal, Non-Executive Chairperson of the OP Jindal Group, ranked 12, and is now the richest woman in the country.
Next is Indu Jain of Bennett, Coleman & Company. With assets worth $1.9 billion, she ranked 29.
The cut-off for a place in this year’s list was $300 million and 141 people found a place on it.
The total wealth of the country’s 100 richest people increased to $250 billion from $221 billion last year.