Forbes names 40 richest Indians

Steel magnate L.N. Mittal tops the list with a wealth of $11.2 billion. His company Ispat International aims to become the world’s largest steel firm.

Mittal currently resides in the United Kingdom and is also known as Britain’s richest resident.

Toeing the line is Indian software supreme, Wipro’s Azim Premji with a wealth of $10 billion. Premji owns 84 per cent of Wipro, India’s second biggest infotech company by revenues.

Mukesh and Anil Ambani are ranked third with a wealth of $6.4 billion. The two brothers are reportedly feuding over control of the group today.

Ranked fourth is Kumar Mangalam Birla with $3.5 billion. He is the fourth generation head of the Aditya Birla Group, India’s largest cement producer. Construction magnate and real estate developer, Pallonji Mistry is fifth on the rich list with wealth of $2.9 billion.

Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the sole woman on the Forbes list with a net worth of $455 million.

Bharti Group’s Sunil Bharti Mittal ranks sixth with $2.6 billion, while HCL’s Shiv Nadar is seventh with $2.3 billion. Adi Godrej of Godrej Industries is eighth with a net worth of $1.9 billion.

Ranbaxy’s Malvinder & Shivinder Mohan Singh are ninth with $1.5 billion, whereas Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma ranks tenth with $ 1.4 billion.

Of the top 40 richest, 11 are from technology and nine from the pharma sector.

While some of them have inherited wealth — like the Ambanis — it is interesting to note that 19 of them are entirely self-made billionaires as well as millionaires.

In terms of cities, 16 of them live in Mumbai, 8 in Bangalore and 8 in Delhi. The average net worth was $1.5 billion. The net worth of the individuals is calculated based on the current share prices, exchange rate. And in some cases, recent dividends for those with publicly traded fortunes.