• Mukesh Ambani regained his No. 1 position even as his wealth grew only 2% in the year.
• Nearly 65% of people in the list amassed a combined wealth of close to $1 trillion.
• As many as 55 people dropped out of the rich list, the most notable being Byju Raveendran.
• Startup founders’ wealth saw a collective dip of ₹85,000 crore.
  

A lot has changed in the last one year, but there are few surprises in the 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023 released on Tuesday. The chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani surged to the top spot as India’s richest man.

India has added 38 billionaires to its rich list, taking the total tally to 259. Even as the developed world is staring at a recession, India is cementing its position as an economic powerhouse. Nearly 65% of people in the rich list amassed a combined wealth of close to $1 trillion. This is akin to the combined GDP of Singapore and the UAE, Hurun said.

Mukesh Ambani surpassed Gautam Adani, who dropped to the second spot, in spite of only a 2% growth in his wealth in the last one year. After Adani’s wealth more than halved in the last year, the gap between Ambani and Adani wealth widened by ₹3,30,000 crore.

The top 10 has seen a lot of upheaval in the last one year – as only Shiv Nadar and Cyrus Poonawala were able to hold on to the positions they held last year.

Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Shantilal Adani who was the sixth richest Indian last year, exited the top 10 list this year. He is now the twelfth richest Indian after his wealth dropped by 37%.

The other notable exit is Uday Kotak, the chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank who is now the 11th richest man in the county after his wealth dropped 6% last year.

Kumar Mangalam Birla & family and Niraj Bajaj & family made a remarkable return to the top 10 this year as wealth went up by 5% and 7% respectively.

India Top 10 richest Indians

Source: 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023

‘India a shining moon as world stares at recession’

The cumulative wealth of 1,319 individuals who possess more than ₹1,000 crore in the rich list went up by 8.5% in the last year. However, their average wealth has decreased by 9.3%.

The India Rich List added 273 new entrants and 38 new billionaires over the last year. The number of dollar billionaires also went up to 259, up 38 as compared to last year.

“The trends prove that India is a shining moon in a world that is staring at recession. While the China Rich List has dropped 10% for each of this year and last year, both in terms of average wealth and in terms of the number of people that make the list. India is closing the gap,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.

India has 259 billionaires, up 38 compared to last year. While industrial products, metals & mining added the greatest number of new entrants to the list. Pharma still holds the numero uno position and contributed 133 entrants to the list.

“Over the past five years, many entrepreneurs have witnessed extraordinary wealth growth, some experiencing an astonishing 1,000% surge. Construction and engineering emerge as the top gainers in the top 100 list, followed closely by pharmaceuticals which has a cut-off of ₹20,000 crore,” said Anirudha Taparia, co-founder and joint CEO, 360 ONE Wealth.

Funding winter & founders’ wealth

While 264 in the Indian rich list saw their wealth drop in the last one year, there were as many as 55 dropouts. The most notable of the dropouts is Byju Raveendran. The founder of edtech Byju’s exited the list on the back of investor markdowns.

The funding winter and its ripple effects led to startup founders on the list experiencing a collective wealth dip of ₹85,000 crore. Recent policies, like the retrospective GST imposition on gaming companies and the angel tax and so on, could potentially hinder long-term wealth generation by startups, Hurun said.

However, a few IPOs that stumbled last year did make a comeback. As new-age internet companies gain in value, entrepreneurs like Deepinder Goyal of Zomato and Yashish Dahiya of PB Fintech have seen their wealth increase by over 70%.

Startup wealth creation will persist, albeit within a changing landscape, Junaid said.

The IPO stars: Public issues and rich list debuts

The stock markets also rewarded many public debuts and made their founders into billionaires. Ramesh Kunhikannan’s Kaynes Technology made a strong stock market debut. And he entered the list with a wealth of ₹8,200 crore.

The spectacular listing gains provided by stock market debuts of many companies have pulled their owners into the rich list. Some of them include Jagdish Prasad Chowdhary of Titagarh Wagons, Ranjit Pendurthi of Archean Chemical Industries and Ajay P Thakker & family of Jupiter Life Line Hospitals.

Pavan Kumar Bajaj and Karan Bajaj of Electronics Mart India and Harsha Engineers’ Harish Rangwala and Rajendra Shantilal Shah too entered the coveted list of richest Indians after their stocks skyrocketed on debut.

But there is money to be made in private markets too. Manish Kejriwal of Kedaara Capital became the first Indian Private Equity fund manager to enter the list.