Mukesh Ambani is India's richest man for the eighth consecutive year

In this file photo, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani addresses the HT Leadership Summit in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

Reliance Industries' Chairman Mukesh Ambani has topped the list of richest Indians for the eighth consecutive year, with a net worth of Rs 3,80,700 crore, according to the latest IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List. London-based SP Hinduja & family, with assets worth Rs 1,86,500 crore, retained the second rank in the list, followed by Wipro founder Azim Premji at the third place with a wealth of Rs 1,17,100 crore.

According to the latest IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List, the number of Indians having a net worth of more than Rs 1,000 crore has grown to 953 this year from 831 in 2018; while, the number of billionaires in terms of US dollar have reduced to 138 from 141. "The combined wealth of top 25 in the list equates to 10 per cent of India's GDP and that of 953 accounts for 27 per cent," it said.

L N Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, was the 4th richest with a wealth of Rs 1,07,300 crore and Gautam Adani was placed on the 5th position with a net worth of Rs 94,500 crore. Others in the top 10 include Uday Kotak at the 6th place with a wealth of Rs 94,100 crore, Cyrus S Poonawalla at 7th position with Rs 88,800 crore assets, Cyrus Pallonji Mistry at 8th spot with a wealth of Rs 76,800 crore, Shapoor Pallonji at 9th position with a net worth of Rs 76,800 crore and Dilip Shanghvi at 10th slot with Rs 71,500-crore wealth.

Interestingly, while the cumulative wealth for this year shows an increase of 2 per cent compared to last year, the average wealth shows a decline of 11 per cent, IFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List said. As many as 344 individuals or more than a third of this year's list witnessed wealth reduction and another 112 could not meet the threshold of Rs 1,000 crore, it added.

"Globally, the wealth creators drive the growth and therefore play a vital role in shaping the economy. With Indian Government setting its sight on USD 5 trillion GDP mark ¿ we are confident that the size of the India Rich List will easily triple in the next 5 years," said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD & Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India.

With 246 individuals or 26 per cent of the list, Mumbai is the absolute capital when it comes to the residence of India's top entrepreneurs, followed by New Delhi (175) and Bengaluru (77).
There are 82 NRIs on the coveted list of which 76 per cent are self-made. With 31 individuals, USA is the most preferred country for NRIs, followed by the UAE and the UK. With a net worth of Rs 7,500 crore, Ritesh Agarwal (25) of Oyo Rooms is the youngest selfmade entrepreneur and the wealthiest under 40 years (age) is Divyank Turakhia (37) of Media.net. The list includes 152 women with an average age of 56 years.

Roshni Nadar (37) of HCL technologies is the richest woman followed by Smita V Crishna (68) of Godrej Group with a net worth of Rs 31,400 crore. With a net worth of Rs 18,500 crore, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon retains the crown of the richest self-made woman in India. "With the India story gaining momentum, supported by a young and an aspirational demography the potential of wealth management in the country has merely scratched the surface," said Yatin Shah, Co-founder & Executive Director, IIFL Wealth Management Ltd.

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