Hurun India Rich List 2021: Mukesh Ambani tops for 10th year; India retains 3rd spot with most billionaires

India adds more than one billionaire every week, according to the report

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani retained the top spot as richest Indian for the tenth consecutive year with a net worth of Rs 6.05 lakh crore, according to Hurun Rich List for India.

Ambani, 63, who has been selling stakes in telecom and retail arms lately and has been in a legal fight with Future Retail, moved to the 8th position from number 9, a year ago, at the global level, the report showed.

Read | Jeff Bezos versus Mukesh Ambani isn’t the only fight in India’s retail

On the other hand, Landmark company chairman Mukesh Jagtiani is the newest entrant in the list of richest Indians, who is on the 39th position, and globally on the 68th.

The rankings come at a time when the country has been showing signs of recovery after a year of being distraught by the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in a deep economic impact on the lives. The fear is that there will be a K-shaped recovery, which will result in more inequalities in society.

The list also identified that, in the last one year, 209 Indians rose to become billionaires, of which 177 live in India. India last year added billionaires at a similar rate to the US despite the ongoing pandemic.

With 177 billionaires residing in India, India has retained the third spot with 55 new additions. At this rate, the nation added more than a billionaire every week.

“Indian wealth creation is dominated by cyclical/ traditional industries compared to tech-driven wealth creation in the US and China. When the tech-driven wealth creation reaches full potential, India could potentially beat the US in terms of the number of billionaires,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun India.

Meanwhile, on the global front, Asia, for the first time in perhaps hundreds of years, has added more billionaires than the rest of the world combined.