Industrialist Gautam Adani’s wealth grew almost four times from 1.04 lakh crore to Rs 5.05 lakh crore in the last one year, making him the second richest man in Asia, according to a list by research company Hurun India. Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani continued to hold the top spot for the tenth time straight.
The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021, published on Thursday, said that the combined market capitalisation, or the total value of the stocks, of Adani Group was Rs 9 lakh crore. It said that all of the industrialist’s listed companies except Adani Power were valued at more Rs 1 lakh crore.
“Gautam Adani is the only Indian to build not one, but five Rs 1 lakh crore companies,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher at Hurun India.
Adani secured the second spot after overtaking Zhong Shanshan, the founder of Nongfu Spring beverage company, a bottled water firm in China.
Adani’s brothers Vinod Shantilal Adani also featured among the top 10 in the list for the first time, moving 12 places to the eighth spot. His wealth tripled to Rs 1.31 lakh crore.
Other who made it to the top 10 this year are Hinduja Group chairperson SP Hinduja, Managing Director of the Serum Institute of India Cyrus Poonawalla, DMart founder Radhakishan Damani and Chief Executive Officer of IT security company Zscaler Jay Chaudhry.
“Cyrus Poonawalla, whose vaccine manufacturing company Serum Institute of India has supplied nearly 90% of the Covid-19 doses that have been administered in India, also saw his family wealth increase by 74% during the past year,” the list said. His wealth stood at Rs 1.63 lakh crore.
The threshold to make it to the list was net worth of Rs 1,000 crore this time. The cut-off date was September 15 when the exchange rate to the United States dollar was Rs 73.46. The list only incudes Indians, who are defined so by birth or being brought up in India. The source of wealth included both inherited and self-made.
This year, 1,007 individuals made it to the list, an increase of 179 from last year. India has 237 billionaires, up from 58 last year. The wealth of 894 individuals increased or stayed the same this year, while it dropped for 113 people.
The most number of entrants belonged to the pharmaceutical and the petrol and petrochemical sectors. The former had 130 individuals while the latter 98.
“In 2021, the [pharmaceutical] sector witnessed a 43% growth in cumulative wealth compared to 36% in 2020,” the list said. “The pharmaceutical sector added 12 names to this year’s list and added INR 3,45,900 crore wealth this year.”
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