New Delhi:

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani emerged as the biggest dollar gainer on Thursday among the list of Forbes India’s 100 richest tycoons, with the family’s net worth rising to $116 billion.

Along with his brother Vinod Adani, Gautam Adani added $48 billion to climb up to the second position on the list. The Forbes report said Mr Adani posted a strong recovery from “last year’s short-selling attack”. This amounts to a 71 percent rise in wealth.

Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani’s wealth increased by $27.5 billion to bring his total net worth to $119.5 billion. Mr Ambani’s wealth rose by 30 percent, even as he emerged as the second biggest dollar gainer this year. Reliance had announced a bonus issue of shares as a Diwali gift to Reliance investors.

In a record-breaking year, the collective wealth of India’s 100 richest tycoons surpassed the trillion dollar milestone for the first time as more than 80 per cent of the country’s richest tycoons are now wealthier than they were a year ago and twice as rich as they were in 2019, the Forbes report showed.

More than 80% of the richest Indians are wealthier with 58 of them adding $1 billion or more to their respective net worths. Half a dozen fortunes swelled by more than $10 billion each, including the top five, who as a group gained nearly $120 billion. The top 12 list members account for roughly half the group’s combined wealth.

India’s richest woman Savitri Jindal, matriarch of steel-to-power conglomerate OP Jindal Group, whose son Sajjan Jindal recently made an ambitious foray into electric vehicles with MG Motor, moved up to No. 3 for the first time. She’s one of nine women on the list, up from eight a year ago.

The new woman in the ranks is Mahima Datla, who controls privately-held vaccine producer Biological E. She’s one of four newcomers to the list, a group that includes B Partha Saradhi Reddy, founder of Hetero Labs, a maker of generic medicines and pharma ingredients.

The two other new faces are Harish Ahuja, whose apparel maker Shahi Exports supplies to labels such as H&M and Calvin Klein; India’s booming IPO market made Surender Saluja, founder and chairman of Premier Energies, which makes solar panels and modules, a multi-billionaire after his company got listed in September.

Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, jumped three spots to No. 5 with $32.4 billion on rising demand for its skin treatments for everything from acne to psoriasis; siblings Sudhir & Samir Mehta, whose Torrent Group flagship Torrent Pharmaceuticals is eyeing acquisitions, more than doubled their wealth to $16.3 billion.

Four prominent property fortunes on the list were up more than $16 billion combined. Another notable real estate gainer was Irfan Razack and his siblings, whose Bangalore-based developer Prestige Estates Projects rode the boom in India’s tech capital and is now making a mark in Mumbai, the country’s financial hub. The family is one of five members who had previously dropped out of the ranks but rejoined after a hiatus. The other four made their fortunes in everything from operating airports to making industrial explosives.

The storied Godrej family finally concluded a division of their holdings between two factions in April and as a result they appear separately for the first time: brothers Adi & Nadir Godrej, who control the listed companies under the Godrej Industries Group, and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej and Smita Crishna Godrej, who control their privately held flagship Godrej & Boyce under the Godrej Enterprises Group.

The youngest list member is Nikhil Kamath, 38 who cofounded and runs discount brokerage Zerodha with his brother Nithin, 45.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

Combination image of Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Recouping the dent caused by the Hindenburg Research report, Gautam Adani’s networth shot up 95% to ₹11.6 lakh crore last year, which helped him replace Mukesh Ambani to become the richest Indian, a report said on Thursday.

Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mr. Ambani’s overall networth increased by 25% to ₹10.14 lakh crore, as per the 2024 Hurun India Rich List.

In 2023’s report, Mr. Adani’s wealth declined by 57% to ₹4.74 lakh crore, and Mr. Ambani was way ahead with a fortune of ₹8.08 lakh crore.

It can be noted that Mr. Adani’s net worth declined sharply following various allegations levelled by U.S.-based short seller Hindenburg Research. The conglomerate has denied all the allegations.

In the 2014 edition, Hurun had pegged Mr. Adani’s fortunes at ₹44,000 crore, which made him the tenth richest Indian then.

Shiv Nadar and family of HCL gained one spot to be the third richest with a networth of ₹3.14 lakh crore, while Serum Institute of India’s Cyrus Poonawalla slipped by one notch to the fourth position with a net worth of ₹2.89 lakh crore in 2024.

Sun Pharmaceuticals’ Dilip Shanghvi continued his ascent on the list, securing the fifth richest tag against sixth last year with a networth of ₹2.50 lakh crore.

Radha Vembu of Zoho was the wealthiest among self-made women with a fortune of ₹47,500 crore, while Zepto’s co-founders Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha, who are in their early 20s, were the youngest on the list with a networth of ₹3,600 crore and ₹4,300 crore, respectively.

46% jump in cumulative wealth

The list, which captures Indians having a net worth of over ₹1,000 crore, grew by 220 individuals to 1,539 people in 2024. The cumulative wealth has seen a 46% jump in the year.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan made his debut on the list with a fortune estimated at ₹7,300 crore, which was much higher than business partner Juhi Chawla with ₹4,600 crore net worth secured second place among the entertainers.

Interestingly, 16 professionals also made it to the list with Arista Networks’ chief executive Jayshree Ullal being the wealthiest at ₹32,100 crore and followed by D-mart chief executive Ignatius Navil Noronha at ₹6,900 crore, according to the list.

Gera Developments’ Kumar Pritamdas Gera’s wealth grew the fastest at 566% in the 2024 list, while Mr. Ambani and Mr. Adani had the biggest growth by quantum, the list said.