Mukesh Ambani regains top spot as India's richest, surpassing Gautam Adani: Hurun India Rich List 2023

Mukesh Ambani has reclaimed his title as India's wealthiest individual, outpacing Gautam Adani, according to the latest 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023. 

Ambani, the 66-year-old chairman of Reliance Industries, saw a modest 2% increase in his wealth, reaching a staggering Rs 8.08 lakh crore. In contrast, Gautam Adani's fortune took a hit, plummeting by a substantial 57% to Rs 4.74 lakh crore.

Anas Rahman Junaid, the Managing Director and Chief Researcher at Hurun, attributed Adani's wealth decline to the Hindenburg report published in January. The US-based short seller report accused the Adani Group of numerous irregularities, resulting in a sharp correction in the group's stock prices and a subsequent loss of wealth for the Adani family. Adani has consistently denied these allegations.

The Hurun India Rich List 2023 comprises 1,319 individuals from 138 cities, using August 30 as the reference date for assessing fortunes. Pune-based Cyrus Poonawalla, the vaccine manufacturer behind Serum Institute of India, maintained his position as the third wealthiest Indian, with his fortune increasing by 36% to Rs 2.78 lakh crore. Shiv Nadar of HCL Technologies also held onto his spot as the fourth richest, with a 23% rise in wealth to Rs 2.28 lakh crore.

Several individuals within the top 10 witnessed significant gains, include Gopichand Hinduja, Dilip Shanghvi, LN Mittal, Kumar Mangalam, and Niraj Bajaj. However, Radhakishan Damani, the founder of D-Mart, experienced an 18% decrease in his net worth, causing him to slide three ranks and become the eighth richest Indian.

In a notable shift, Radha Vembu of Zoho surpassed Falguni Nayar to become the wealthiest self-made Indian woman on the list. Meanwhile, Kaivalya Vohra of Zepto emerged as the youngest entrant.

The list also featured a newcomer, 94-year-old Mahendra Ratilal Mehta of Precision Wires India. India's billionaire count continued to surge, with two new billionaires emerging every three weeks over the past year, bringing the total to 259 billionaires—a 4.4-fold increase in 12 years, according to Hurun.

While concerns about wealth inequality persist, the list highlighted that 51 individuals saw their wealth double this year, compared to 24 in the previous year. Mumbai led the pack with 328 individuals on the India Rich List, followed by New Delhi (199) and Bengaluru (100). Tiruppur made its debut among the top 20 cities contributing the highest number of entrants.

In a historic development, Manish Kejriwal of Kedaara Capital became the first person from the private equity sector.