Date:10/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/10/stories/2007031005960100.htm

Back Forbes' rich list reflects Indian realty boom

Our Bureau

India ends Japan's reign in Asia with 36 billionaires

New Delhi March 9 The boom in the real estate sector has led to a mushrooming of Indian billionaires on the Forbes list, a trend reminiscent of that seen in the IT sector earlier.

According to the Forbes list of billionaires, five Indians from the real estate sector with a combined wealth of $24.5 billion figure in the coveted list this year. These include Mr Kushal Pal Singh of DLF, Mr Ramesh Chandra of Unitech, Mr Pallonji Mistry of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Mr Vikas Oberoi of Oberoi Construction and Mr Pradeep Jain of Parsvnath Developers

Similarly, five Indians from the infotech/software sector are present on the Forbes list, which has ranked 946 billionaires from across the world. These include Mr Azim Premji of Wipro, Mr Shiv Nadar of HCL and three from Infosys — Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Mr Nandan Nilekani and Mr Senapathy Gopalakrishnan. The combined wealth of these five from the IT sector stood at $25.4 billion, driven mainly by Mr Azim Premji's personal wealth of $17.1 billion.

Meanwhile, the India growth story was very apparent on the Forbes compilation of global billionaires. By sheer numbers, Indians topped the list of richest people in Asia with 36 billionaires, of whom Forbes placed Mr Lakshmi Mittal, Mr Mukesh Ambani and Mr Anil Ambani in the elite global top 20. The combined wealth of Indian billionaires, including familiar names such as Mr Azim Premji, Mr K.P. Singh, Mr Sunil Mittal, and Mr Adi Godrej, swelled to $191 billion — equal to one-fourth of India's GDP.

Mr Mukesh Ambani and his brother Mr Anil Ambani breached the top 20 richest list with a net worth of $20.1 billion and $18.2 billion respectively. The magazine ranked Mr Lakshmi Mittal, whose steel empire has earned him $32 billion, the fifth richest person on the planet.

The Forbes list for 2007 further said India ended Japan's 20-year reign as home to Asia's largest number of the richest people. As many as 14 Indians have joined the coveted club this year, raising the net worth of the country's billionaires by around $90 billion.