The rupee may be weaker, but the rich are richer | News Bharat

Infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani, who changed the top ranking for the first time since 2008. After nearly tripling his wealth in 2021, Adani doubled his fortune this year to $150 billion to become the new No. 1 — and also for for a while, the second richest man on the planet Image: Forbes Asia

IIndia’s post-pandemic demand revival has propelled its economy to become the world’s fifth largest, overtaking the UK. But the stock market was marginally down from a year ago, with the biggest drag being the weaker rupee, which fell 10 percent over the same period. However, the combined wealth of India’s 100 richest rose by $25 billion to $800 billion.

The gain was largely driven by a record-breaking run by infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani, who changed the top ranking for the first time since 2008. After nearly tripling his wealth in 2021, Adani doubled his fortune this year to $150 billion, becoming the new number 1 and also for a time the second richest person on the planet. The biggest gainer this year in both percentage and dollar terms, Adani announced it would invest $100 billion over the next decade, 70 percent of it in green energy.

Mukesh Ambani, who controls Reliance Industries [owner of Network 18, the publisher of Forbes India], the oil and gas telecommunications giant, came in second with $88 billion, down 5% from last year. Between them, the Adanis and Ambanis now account for 30 percent of the combined wealth of India’s 100 richest.

The country’s retail king Radhakishan Damani, who owns supermarket chain DMart, made the top three for the first time, although his net worth fell 6 percent to $27.6 billion. Another year of big profits from Covid-19 vaccines has lifted vaccine baron Cyrus Poonawalla to fourth place with a fortune of $21.5 billion.

There are nine newcomers this year, including three from initial public offerings: Falguni Nayar, a former banker who became India’s richest woman after listing her beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa; ethnic wear maker Ravi Modi; and shoemaker Rafiq Malik, who announced Metro Brands last December.

Three prominent members of the list died this year: Rahul Bajaj, the ailing patriarch of the Bajaj family; Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, often called India’s Warren Buffett, who died after launching his new airline Akasa Air in August and whose wife Rekha is taking his place; and construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry, whose 54-year-old son Cyrus Mistry died in a car crash in September, leaving the patriarch’s elder son Shapoor Mistry in charge of the family’s $14.2 billion fortune.

Among the four returnees is Anand Mahindra, whose Mahindra & Mahindra created a buzz by launching an electric SUV. The gainers were outnumbered by the majority – 60 in total – whose wealth has declined since a year ago.

Notable among the detractors was Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who saw shares of his One97 Communications, the parent company of fintech Paytm, fall amid the global tech meltdown. The threshold for the top 100 was $1.9 billion, almost the same as last year’s $1.94 billion.

Check out the complete list of India’s 100 Richest 2022

Editing assistance by Jane Ho. Additional reporting by Gloria Haraito and Anuradha Raghunathan

METHODOLOGY

This list is compiled using shareholding and financial information received from families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and regulatory agencies of India. The ranking lists family fortunes, including those shared between extended families such as the Bajaj and Godrej families. Public wealth was calculated based on stock prices and exchange rates as of September 23. Private companies were valued based on similar publicly traded companies. The list may also include foreign nationals with business, residential or other ties to the country, or nationals who do not reside in the country but have significant business or other ties to the country. The editors reserve the right to change any information or remove any inclusions in light of new information