Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani reclaimed the top spot in the Forbes list of India’s 10 richest billionaires, which was announced on Tuesday, with a net worth of $84.5 billion.
Ambani was followed by Adani Group chief Gautam Adani and HCL founder Shiv Nadar. Put together, the three richest Indians added just over $100 billion, as per Forbes.
Forbes also said that the total number of Indian billionaires rose to 140 this year from 102 last year and their combined wealth nearly doubled to $596 billion.
Mukesh Ambani, who is also Asia’s richest person, diversified his oil and gas empire and dived into sectors such as telecom and retail, which resulted in him retaining the top position.
Gautam Adani, an infrastructure tycoon, got $42 billion richer as shares of his companies Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy soared. Adani unseated Radhakishan Dhamani who was previously the second-richest Indian. Forbes said that Adani’s wealth increased five-fold since 2020.
In the top ten richest Indians list, two Indians featured who earned their spot owing to investments in the healthcare sector which has witnessed a boost owing to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. These two are: Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ Dilip Shanghavi. SII, which is the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccine maker and has developed the Covishield vaccine, has also been a key supplier for the United Nations (UN)-backed Covax program.
