The economic slowdown and rupee depreciation have led to significant erosion in the networth of Indian billionaires, with 344 individuals registering a net drop in wealth compared to 2018, constituting almost 50% of Hurun India Rich List 2018.
A total of 112 individuals dropped out from IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2019, which says the number of U.S. dollar billionaires in the list has dropped for the first time since the inception of Hurun India Rich List in 2012. However, the slowdown is not as bad compared to that of China, where Hurun China Rich List registered 266 dropouts. In 2014, when the NDA government took charge, the number of U.S. dollar Indian billionaires increased by 60% to 109. Interestingly, while the number of Indians in the list has grown from 831 in 2018 to 953, the number of dollar billionaires has reduced from 141 to 138.
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Top for 8th straight year
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s second-most valued firm Reliance Industries, continues to top the list for the eighth consecutive year, with a total net worth of ₹380,700 crore. His brother Anil Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Group, has seen maximum erosion in his wealth from ₹19,500 crore last year to less than ₹1,000 crore this year, forcing an exit from the list.
London-based S.P. Hinduja and family, worth ₹186,500 crore, retains the second rank in the list.
With a wealth of ₹1,17,100 crore, Azim Premji, founder of Wipro, rose to the third spot. L.N. Mittal, chairman & CEO of ArcelorMittal, is the fourth richest with a wealth of ₹1,07,300 crore. Gautam Adani stormed into the top 5 with a total wealth of ₹94,500 crore, a growth of 33% over last year.
While the cumulative wealth for this year shows an increase of 2% compared to last year; the average wealth shows a decline of 11%.
Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun Report India, told The Hindu , “Slowdown definitely has an impact on the rankings of Indian billionaires. When the stock market goes down, it has direct impact on the market valuations of these companies.”