New Delhi: Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has reclaimed his position as the richest Indian by surpassing Gautam Adani, the chief of Adani Group. According to the ‘360 One Wealth Hurun India’ 2023 Indian Rich List, Ambani’s net worth increased slightly by two percent to Rs 8.08 lakh crore, while Adani’s net worth plummeted by 57 percent to Rs 4.74 lakh crore.
The report attributed Adani’s wealth erosion to the Hindenburg report published in January, which accused the Adani Group of accounting irregularities, share price manipulation, and misuse of overseas units. The allegations led to a sharp decline in the stock prices of the group companies, which the Adani Group denied.
The list, which features 1,319 individuals from 138 cities, ranked Cyrus Poonawala of Serum Institute of India, a vaccine maker, as the third richest Indian with a net worth of Rs 2.78 lakh crore, up by 36 percent. Shiv Nadar of HCL Technologies was fourth with a net worth of Rs 2.28 lakh crore, up 23 percent.
The rankings of most of the top 10 individuals improved, except for Radhakishan Damani of D-Mart, whose net worth fell by 18 percent to Rs 1.43 lakh crore and dropped three places to eighth. The others in the top 10 were Gopichand Hinduja (fifth), Dilip Shanghvi (sixth), Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (seventh), Kumar Mangalam Birla (ninth) and Neeraj Bajaj (tenth).
The report also said that India added two new billionaires every three weeks last year and now has 259 billionaires, a 4.4 times increase in 12 years. The wealth of 51 individuals doubled this year compared to 24 last year amid concerns about inequality. Mumbai was the city with the most rich individuals with 328, followed by New Delhi with 199 and Bengaluru with 100. Tirupur was one of the top 20 cities that produced rich individuals for the list. Manish Kejriwal of Kedar Capital became the first person from the private equity sector to join the list with a net worth of Rs 3,000 crore.
Radha Vembu of Zoho surpassed Falguni Nair to become the richest Indian woman, while Kaivalya Vohra of Zepto was the youngest woman on the list. Mahendra Ratilal Mehta of Precision Wires India Company made it to the list for the first time at the age of 94.
Here is a table summarizing the top 10 richest Indians according to the list:
| Rank | Name | Company | Net Worth (in Rs crore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mukesh Ambani | Reliance Industries | 8,08,000 |
| 2 | Gautam Adani | Adani Group | 4,74,000 |
| 3 | Cyrus Poonawala | Serum Institute of India | 2,78,000 |
| 4 | Shiv Nadar | HCL Technologies | 2,28,000 |
| 5 | Gopichand Hinduja | Hinduja Group | 1,86,000 |
| 6 | Dilip Shanghvi | Sun Pharmaceuticals | 1,72,000 |
| 7 | Lakshmi Niwas Mittal | ArcelorMittal | 1,59,000 |
| 8 | Radhakishan Damani | D-Mart | 1,43,000 |
| 9 | Kumar Mangalam Birla | Aditya Birla Group | 1,38,000 |
| 10 | Neeraj Bajaj | Bajaj Group | 1,29,000 |
