The number of Indians featured on Forbes' annual list of the world's billionaires for 2023 has risen to a new high. Indians now make up 169 of the list, up from 166 in 2022.
Although there are more Indian billionaires on the list, their aggregate fortune shrank 10% to $675 billion from $750 billion on the 2022 list, despite there being more of them. Mukesh Ambani, the CEO of Reliance, is still the richest man in both Asia and India and is presently ranked ninth in the world. While the shares of the others fell, Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Adani Group, took the most impact.
The individual whose wealth had a significant decline was Gautam Adani, who is the focus of a political uproar following a report by Hindenburg Research. According to a Forbes survey, Adani, the second-richest billionaire in India behind Ambani, had his net worth drop from $90 billion to $47.2 billion in just one year.
According to research published in January by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, the Adani Group had engaged in accounting fraud, poor corporate governance, and stock manipulation. The charges have been vigorously refuted by The Adani Group.
Prior to the release of the Hindenburg report, Adani spent most of January as the third richest person in the world after briefly holding down the second-place position in September of last year. His current global ranking is 24th.
Mukesh Ambani's fortunes had an 8% decline from 2022, yet he is still the ninth richest person in the world. He has an $83.4 billion net worth. According to a Forbes article, his children Akash (telecom), Anant (green energy), and Isha (retail) are currently managing major roles in several enterprises.
Despite an 11% decline in wealth from the previous year, software tycoon Shiv Nadar still ranks third in terms of wealth in India. He has a $25.6 billion net worth.
The fourth-richest individual in India is Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman and managing director of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, which is home to the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines, Serum Institute of India. His wealth is now valued at $22.6 billion despite a 7% decline in net worth over the previous year.
Radhakishan Damani, a retail tycoon who controls the DMart retail chain, saw his wealth drop to $15.3 billion when shares of his Avenue Supermarts plummeted in value. Lakshmi Mittal, who has an estimated net worth of $80 billion, moved up to the fifth place, while Damani, who continues to rank among the top 10 richest Indians in the world, dropped to sixth.
Only one Indian billionaire, Dilip Shanghvi, the managing director of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, has seen his net worth remain constant during the past 12 months. His wealth is valued at $15.6 billion.
Out of the 16 newcomers, three women made it to Forbes' list of Indian billionaires in 2023. Rekha Jhunjhunwala, 59, who was married to the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, known as India's Warren Buffett, is one of the women. In 2022, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed away. The total wealth of Rekha Jhunjhunwala was $5.1 billion. According to a Forbes article, she inherited her late husband's stock portfolio and has assets in well-known firms including Tata Motors and Titan.
The late billionaire in the building industry Pallonji Mistry's daughter-in-law Rohiqa Cyrus Mistry debuted on the Forbes list. She was the spouse of Cyrus Mistry, the former chairman of the Tata Group, who died in a car accident in September of last year. For around 30 years, Rohiqa was wed to Cyrus Mistry, with whom she had two children. The daughter of seasoned attorney Iqbal Chagla is Rohiqa (55).
According to Forbes, self-made billionaire Saroj Rani Gupta has a net worth of $1.2 billion. The 72-year-old and her late husband SK Gupta co-founded APL Apollo Tubes. The business was founded in 1986. Sanjay Gupta, the managing director of APL Apollo Tubes, is Saroj's son.
The richest lady in India is Savitri Jindal (73), Chairperson Emeritus of OP Jindal Group. Her net worth is $17 billion. When Savitri Jindal was initially elected from the Hisar Assembly constituency in Haryana in 2005 on a Congress ticket—a seat previously held by her late husband, OP Jindal—she also put on the politician's cap. In 2009, she returned to the same position. She has also held a number of positions in the Haryana Cabinet.
Falguni Nayar, a former banker, is the richest self-made woman billionaire in India despite the drop in the value of her shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the company that owns the beauty and fashion start-up Nykaa.
According to the Forbes study, her net worth has decreased from $4.5 billion in 2022 to $2.6 billion today. The co-founders of bargain brokerage Zerodha, 36-year-old Nikhil Kamath, and his older brother Nithin Kamath are this year's youngest Indian billionaires according to the Forbes list. Nithin's fortune is valued at $2.7 billion, compared to Nikhil's at $1.1 billion.
It should be noted that Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani and holder of a passport from Cyprus, has also made his debut appearance on Forbes. His net worth is close to $10 billion.
The oldest billionaire in India is Keshub Mahindra, Chairman Emeritus of Mahindra & Mahindra, who has returned to the Forbes list. The $1.2 billion worth of the 99-year-old's wealth.
23 people's names are missing from this year's Forbes list. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder, and CEO of PayTM, is one of them. Since its first public offering in 2021, One 97 Communications has had share price declines.
Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited, another well-known figure who was passed over because of debt, failed the test, according to Forbes.
