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India has four of the world's top eight billionaires

Sunday, March 16, 2008 Free Headline Alerts

Whatever the argument about India’s present boom economy, one thing is clear: some Indians are doing very well.

There are now four Indians among the eight top billionaires listed in Forbes’ roll call of the world’s richest.

They include non-resident Indian and steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, fourth-ranking richest man in the world; Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani (fifth), followed by his younger brother, Anil Ambani, chairman of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group; and Kushal Pal Singh, chairman of the DLF Group (eighth).

American investor Warren Buffett topped Forbes’ annual list having overtaken software czar Bill Gates and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu to claim the top spot. Mittal, who lives in London, accumulated $45 billion at the helm of the world’s largest steel making company, Arcelor, with a 44 percent stake.

Mukesh Ambani, who finally thrashed out his disagreement over an inheritance from a rags-to-riches father in oil and metalworking, is valued at $43 billion. Anil Ambani’s net worth rose faster than all others last year, by $23.8 billion to $42 billion.

There are other Indians who fall into the billion-dollar range: K.P. Singh is considered the richest real estate entrepreneur in the world. His company, DLF, last year jumped to $30 billion from $10 billion a year earlier.

Other Indians include Ravi and Shashi Ruia, the brothers who run Essar Group, who occupy the 43rd position with a net worth of $15 billion. Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, the Indo-American software giant, is in the 30th position with a net worth of $12.7 billion.

The list also has Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and chief executive of Infosys, another Indo-American software outfit; trader and investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Rahul Bajaj, chairman, Bajaj Auto Ltd., each with a net worth of $1 billion.

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