Mukesh Ambani Richest Indian, Gautam Adani Second Richest on the Forbes India Rich List 2019

The past one year has proved challenging for the Industrialists in India as Forbes 2019 list of business leaders saw their total wealth dropping by 8 per cent.

In his Independence Day Speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that that the wealth creators of the country has helped in reducing the poverty in the country and therefore they deserve respect and encouragement.

The encouragement was such that the Forbes India Rich List 2019 shows industrialist Gautam Adani jumped 8 spots on the list of the business tycoons to become the second richest Indian with a net worth of $15.7 billion in business, while Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani maintained his number one spot with $51.4 billion.

Forbes said, “In all, 14 were poorer by $1 billion or more, and nine members from last year’s ranks dropped off. More than a third of that decline was due to the remarkable largesse of tech tycoon Azim Premji, who gave away a chunk of his fortune in the month of March and consequently dropped to the position of No 17, directly from No 2”.

Hinduja Brothers the owners of Ashok Leyland become the third richest business tycoons with a net worth of $15.6 billion. Meanwhile, Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s Pallonji Mistry occupied the fourth spot with a $15 billion net worth, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank was ranked fifth with a business net worth of $14.8 billion followed by Shiv Nadar of HCL Technologies with a net worth of $14.4 billion.

Forbes while declaring India’s most rich list also said, “Mukesh Ambani remains the richest Indian for the 12th year in a row. He added $4.1 billion to his net worth as Jio, a three-year-old telecom unit of his Reliance Industries, became one of India's biggest mobile carriers with 340 million subscribers”.

Forbes India rich list also witness six new debutants, which includes Byju’s Founder and CEO, Byju Raveendran, who secured his spot at no 72 with net wealth of $1.91 billion, while Manohar Lal and Madhusudan Agarwal of Haldiram Snacks at the no 86 spot with net worth of $1.7 billion, Jaquar’s Rajesh Mehra found his place at spot no 95 with net worth of $1.5 billion and Sandeep Engineer of Astral Poly Technik with $1.45 billion net worth.

This year, the rich list is also a break from traditional rich India and thus made way for new and innovative young entrepreneurs who can move shoulder to shoulders with the traditional wealth creators, thereby developing a new India.