The Hindu : Front Page : A rising tide of the wealthy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 10, 2007
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A rising tide of the wealthy

India overtakes Japan in the number of billionaires

Bill Gates

New York: In terms of sheer numbers, Indians have topped the list of richest people in Asia with 36 billionaires, of whom the Forbes magazine has placed Lakshmi Mittal, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani in the ultra-elite Global Top 20.

The combined wealth of Indian billionaires, including Azim Premji, K.P. Singh, Sunil Mittal, Shashi and Ravi Ruia, Pallonji Mistry and Adi Godrej, swelled to $191 billion. This amount is equal to one-fourth of India's gross national product.

Mukesh Ambani

As many as 14 Indians have joined the club. The net worth of India's billionaires rose by around $90 billion.

Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani got into the Top 20 list with a net worth of $20.1 billion and $18.2 billion respectively. Forbes ranked Mr. Mittal, whose steel empire has earned him $32 billion, the fifth richest.

Anil Ambani

The list for 2007 said India ended Japan's 20-year reign as home to Asia's most number of richest people. Japan now has 24 billionaires with a combined net worth of $64 billion. China and Hong Kong together account for 41 billionaires, including Hutchison Whampoa's Li Ka-Shing.

"India's rich are marching toward the top of our rankings and now has three in the upper echelons, second only to the U.S.," Forbes said.

Wipro's Mr. Premji is ranked 21st with $17.1 billion. Kushal Pal Singh of DLF was ranked 62 with $10 billion, Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal and family at 49 with $9.5 billion, Aditya Birla Group chairman K.M. Birla at 86 with $8 billion and Essar Group's Shashi and Ravi Ruia also at 86 with $8 billion.

L.N.Mittal

Bill Gates continues to be the richest, for the 13th year, with a net worth of $56 billion among a record 946 billionaires listed. He was followed by Warren Buffett, with $52 billion.

The number of billionaires in 2007 has risen 19 per cent to 946 over the previous years' 793. The combined net worth has climbed by $900 billion to $3.5 trillion . "This is the richest year ever in the human history. Never in history has there been such a notable advance," Forbes chief executive Steve Forbes said.

— PTI

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