Mukesh Ambani still richest Indian; Premji, Ruias move up

Mukesh Ambani, who controls India's biggest company by market value, Reliance Industries Ltd, has topped India's Richest list with a net worth of $27 billion, Forbes Magazine reported.

Arcelor Mittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal is second on the list with wealth totalling $26.1 billion. Moving up to third position this year is IT outsourcer Wipro's Azim Premji. His wealth increased to $17.6 billion from $14.9 billion last year amid an improving outlook for the sector.

Also improving on their previous ranking to fourth place are brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia with $15 billion, more than their last year's net worth of $13.6 billion. The IPO of their Essar Energy in May, which raised $1.85 billion, was the largest ever listing in London by an Indian company.

Savitri Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, was fifth with net worth of $14.4 billion. Anil Ambani, who owns the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group with telecom, financial services and power businesses, was sixth with a net worth of $13.3 billion.

India's economy has averaged 8.5 per cent growth for the past four years, boosting disposable incomes and demand, helping businesses to expand and reap profits. Overseas investors have so far this year pumped almost $19 billion into Indian stocks, helping make the benchmark equities index the best performer among the world's 10 biggest markets.

The combined net worth of India's 100 richest people is $300 billion, up from $276 billion last year. This year, there are 69 billionaires on the India Rich List, 17 more than last year.