Mumbai: With a net worth of Rs 3.8 lakh crore, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is India’s richest man for the eighth consecutive year as mentioned in the IIFL Wealth-Hurun India Rich List 2019.
Ironically, his younger brother Anil Ambani — who runs a separate business empire — is nowhere in the list of 953 entrants who crossed the threshold of Rs 1,000 crore across 41 industries.
London-based S P Hinduja and family worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore retain the second rank in the list. With a wealth of Rs 1.17 lakh crore, Azim Premji, the founder of Wipro, rises to the third spot. L N Mittal, Chairman, and CEO of ArcelorMittal, is the fourth richest with a wealth of Rs 1.07 lakh crore. Gautam Adani stormed into the top five with a total wealth of Rs 94,500 crore.
Interestingly, while the number of Indians in the 2019 edition of IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List has grown from 831 in 2018 to 953, the number of dollar billionaires has reduced from 141 to 138. The combined wealth of top 25 in the list equates to 10 percent of India’s GDP and that of 953 accounts for 27 percent of the same.
While the cumulative wealth for this year shows an increase of two percent compared to last year, the average wealth shows a decline of 11 percent. A total of 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.
“With all the conversation around economic slowdown and overheating of the economy, the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List of 2019 celebrates the growing tribe of Indian wealth creators — both in India and abroad,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, Managing Director, and Chief Researcher at Hurun Report India.
While the number of dollar billionaires has merely grown by two as compared to 2016, the number of individuals with Rs 1,000 crore has increased by a third in the past two years — from 617 to 953. This indicates that wealth is getting generated across the ‘bottom end’ of the top of the pyramid.
Globally, the wealth creators drive the growth and therefore play a vital role in shaping the economy. “With the government setting its sight on five trillion dollar GDP mark, we are confident that the size of the India Rich List will easily triple in the next five years,” said Junaid.
Yatin Shah, Co-founder and Executive Director of IIFL Wealth Management, said: “About 53 percent of the names featured in the list are those who have inherited wealth. This could only happen with a strong focus on not only wealth creation but also wealth preservation.”
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. Given the list as an indicator, the Indian wealth management industry is poised for exponential growth as India gears up to emerge as a five trillion dollar economy.”
With 246 individuals or 26 percent 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). These cities contribute only 35 percent of the new additions compared to 59 percent of the same last year.
There are 82 NRIs on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2019 of which 76 percent are self-made. With 31 individuals, the United States is the most preferred country for non-resident Indians followed by the United Arab Emirates and Britain.