The Hindu : Front Page : 10 new Indian billionaires on <I>Forbes</I> list

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 11, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

10 new Indian billionaires on Forbes list

Lakshmi Mittal.

New York: Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is ranked the world's fifth richest on the Forbes billionaires list. Ten new Indians are included on the list this year.

Microsoft's Bill Gates leads the list with $50 billion while Mittal boasts of a net worth of $20 billion.

India is home to 10 new billionaires, more than any other country besides the United States. The total number of Indian billionaires is 27.

The Indians on the list are Wipro's Azim Premji, behind Mittal, at $11 billion and the Ambani brothers, Mukesh ($7 billion) and Anil ($5.5 billion).

The newcomers include DLF's Kushal Pal Singh ($5 billion), Tulsi Tanti, who built Asia's largest wind energy farm, with $3.7 billion, liquor baron Vijay Mallya ($0.95 billion) and online gaming mogul Anurag Dikshit ($3.1 billion).

The Indian list also has Bharti group's Sunil Mittal ($4.9 billion), Aditya Birla Group's Kumar Birla ($4.4 billion) and construction magnate Pallonji Mistri ($3.3 billion).

Forbes, which uncovered some 140 billionaires on its first list 20 years ago, found 476 on its second list three years ago. This year, it is a record 793 billionaires worldwide, up 102 from last year. The world's 793 richest people are worth a combined $2.6 trillion, each worth an average $3.3 billion.

Strong stock markets around the world (except the U.S.) contributed to this surge in wealth.

The second richest person in the world is still American Warren Buffet ($42 billion), third comes Mexican Carlos Slim Helu ($30 billion) and fourth is Ingvar Maprad of Sweden ($28 billion). Seventyeight women make the list, 10 more than last year. — UNI

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