Indians’ newly-found dominance in the world’s ‘Richie Rich’ club does not seem to have impressed the bourses. The market value of companies led by 10 of the country’s richest dipped by over $20 billion ever since the salutation came from US business magazine Forbes.The magazine identified a total of 53 billionaires from India with a combined net worth of $340.9 billion, which included a hefty share of nearly two-third or $228.6 billion with the 10 richest Indians.However, a weak stock market after the list’s release eroded about Rs 80,000 crore ($20 billion) from the market value of groups led by these 10 — wiping off over $10 billion or about five per cent of their personal wealth.The ten richest Indians, as named by Forbes, are Lakshmi Mittal, Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, K P Singh, Shashi and Ravi Ruia, Azim Premji, Sunil Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ramesh Chandra and Gautam Adani. The first four are also among the world’s ten richest, a feat achieved by only Lakshmi Mittal last year.After March 5, when the list was published, there has been just one day of trading in Indian stock market — March 7, while the global markets have traded for two days.Close to 30 companies belonging to the groups led by 10 richest Indians saw their values dropping by up to 15 per cent on March 7, barring a few like RCom (up 3 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (up 0.15 per cent) that managed to close with gains on the day. Among these ten groups, the loss has been biggest — at about $9 billion — for ArcelorMittal, followed by Rs 15,300 crore for Anil Ambani group and about Rs 10,500 crore for the conglomerate led by Mukesh. Ramesh Chandra-led Unitech lost about Rs 5,000 crore, K P Singh-led DLF and the group led by Kumar Mangalam Birla lost close to Rs 4,000 crore ($1 billion) each, Azim Premji-led Wipro saw an erosion of about Rs 2,300 crore and Gautam Adani-led group also lost close to Rs 1,800 crore.Of the total $10-billion loss for the 10 richest Indians, the wealth of Lakshmi Mittal alone is estimated to have dropped by $4.1 billion in two days of trading after March 5.Anil and Mukesh Ambani are estimated to have lost about $2 billion and $1 billion respectively, while losses were between $350-900 million for others, barring Sunil Mittal who is estimated to have seen an increase of about $15 million due to rise in the share price of Bharti Airtel.
