The cascading economy and 12 percent drop in the value of the rupee against the dollar has eroded millions from India’s billionaires. Yet two of India’s riches have personal fortunes which are much higher than the richest billionaires in China. In its first report specifically of Indian businessmen, the Shanghai based Hurun India Rich List measures the wealth accumulated by the highest rung of Indians.
According to this first report on Indian wealth by a Chinese company, Head of Reliance Industries and petrochemicals tycoon Mukesh D. Ambani rules the roost with assest of US$19.3 billion, followed by L N Mittal who usually isn’t considered Indian by nationality according to Forbes with US$16.9 billion. In third position is Wipro’s Azim Premji with US$12.3 billion. All three companies have big stakes in the Chinese economy.
In comparison, at the 2012 Chinese Rich list pole position for the second time is head of the soft drinks major Wahaha group Zong Qinghou and family with assets worth US$12.6 billion, in second place at US$10.3 billion is Wang Jianling of the Wanda group which owns major property across the nation. In third position with US$8 billion is LI Yanhong of Baidu, China’s answer to Google.
In a separate report, Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2012, the research institute said there were 964,000 millionaires in China by mid-2012, and the number is expected to almost double to 1.9 million by 2017, driven by the rapid development of the country’s private sector. China’s total household wealth jumped US$562 billion, or 2.9 percent, to US$20 trillion by mid-2012.
Credit Suisse said it expects China to add another US$18 trillion in family wealth in the next five years, with its projected US$38 trillion total surpassing Japan’s US$35 trillion, making it the second wealthiest country by 2017.
Hurun’s list, quantifying Indian wealth however mostly dominated by men who are pedigreed and have contributed significantly in developing the family business also has a smattering of women. The first on the list of Indian power women is steel baroness Savitri Jindal with a personal fortune of US$5.6 billion while Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon is the richest self-made woman with a personal wealth of US$600 million. Incidentally, she is the only self-made woman in the List.
Just five of the top 100 rich Indians are women. Among the women rich list, Savitri Jindal is followed by Indu Jain of Bennett Coleman with US$1.7 billion, Anu Aga of Thermax with US$690 million, Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon with US$600 million and Shobhana Bhartia of Hindustan Times with US$490 million.
Mumbai is India’s richest hub with 36 billionaires, Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad in Gujarat follow. The Chinese list also enumerates manufacturing to be the highest money spinner, followed by pharmaceuticals, real estate, infrastructure, energy and technology.