In September, India’s market maintained its strong and steady growth trajectory, with occasional hiccups due to the imbalances in the global markets amid geopolitical tensions. The stock market continues to hover around the $5 trillion (₹417.6 lakh crore) market capitalization mark, positioning itself among the world’s top national markets.

September has also become the best month for foreign inflows in 2024, with foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchasing shares valued at nearly $7 billion (₹58,782 crore). This represents the highest net buying since December 2023, according to NSDL.

The Federal Reserve implemented its first interest rate cut this month in four years reducing benchmark rates by half a percentage point lifting investors’ sentiments and sending Indian stocks soaring.

The Indian Billionaires

Mukesh Ambani maintained his position as the richest Indian billionaire followed by Gautam Adani. Reliance held its 47th annual general meeting last month, where the Chairman and Managing Director announced that the company is looking to double its size before the end of the decade, with investments in retail, Jio and new energy businesses. 

The company was also boosted after the Competition Commission of India‘s (CCI) approval for its ₹70,352 crore ($8.5 billion) merger with Disney‘s Indian media assets, which had been hanging in the regulatory crosshairs for months.

Most Adani stocks declined in the past month. In August, the 2024 Hurun India Rich List showed that Gautam Adani’s family wealth surged by 95% in 1 year to ₹11.6 lakh crore despite the release of another scathing report by the U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research.

HCL Enterprise’s Shiv Nadar clinched the third spot on the list closely followed by Sharpoor Mistry. Savitri Jindal, the former chairperson of the OP Jindal Group, continued to hold the position of the wealthiest woman in the country and ranked fifth in the overall list.

Away from the top five, Sun Pharma MD Dilip Shanghvi, former Wipro chairman Azim Premji and founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Mittal held the sixth, seventh and eighth positions. DMart founder Radhakishan Damani and Kumar Birla, who heads the Aditya Birla Group, occupied the last two spots on the list.

Here is the ranking of the 10 richest persons in India in June 2024 as per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index:

1. Mukesh Ambani

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited, holds the title of India’s richest person. Ambani also holds the twelfth position on the global billionaire list with a net worth of $111 billion (₹9.3 lakh crore).

Under his leadership, RIL has grown into one of India’s leading firms with a global footprint. In recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments, he received the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award in 2016.

Ambani’s conglomerate spans a broad spectrum, including petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration, and telecommunications. Since taking the reins in 2004 following his father Dhirubhai Ambani’s passing, he has propelled RIL to new heights. He orchestrated the launch of Reliance Jio, a telecom venture that transformed the Indian telecom landscape with its affordable data plans and high-speed internet services.

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2. Gautam Adani

Adani, who slipped out of the elite club of the world's top 10 richest people in 2023, is now 15th on the global list, consolidating his place as the second richest man in India.

Adani has a net worth of $103 billion (₹8.6 lakh crore) after the Adani Group suffered a colossal $25 billion loss in a single day following the election results in June. Adani's conglomerate has widespread interest across sectors like power generation and transmission, real estate, commodities and infrastructure.

Several Adani Group companies are publicly listed, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar, Adani Transmission, Adani Ports & SEZ, Ambuja Cements and ACC. Several of these stocks have turned multi-baggers and fetched returns in multiples for the investors.

Adani continues to tread the recovery path after a majority of this wealth was eroded in the aftermath of prominent U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research publishing a report that alleged Adani Group engages in widespread fraud and financial malpractices. However, the conglomerates’ listed entities have held up well in the market after fresh allegations suggested that business partners of the family used ‘opaque’ funds to invest in stocks. 

At the end of 2022, Adani held the title of India’s wealthiest individual. Adani’s conglomerate reached its pinnacle, securing its position as the second-largest Indian conglomerate, surpassed only by Reliance Industries.

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3. Shiv Nadar

Shiv Nadar. Photo: Courtesy of Shiv Nadar Foundation

Shiv Nadar, HCL Technologies co-founder, holds the third position among India’s richest billionaires, with an estimated wealth of $41.8 billion (₹3.5 lakh crore). HCL is a prominent provider of software services in India, boasting a substantial revenue of $13.3 billion (₹1.10 lakh crore) in Q4 FY24. Under Nadar’s guidance, HCL has emerged as one of the country’s largest IT services companies, operating in over 45 countries.

Nadar has climbed to the 36th rank on the global billionaire’s list. His contributions to the IT industry and philanthropic endeavours have earned him numerous awards and accolades.

4. Shapoor Mistry

Shapoor Mistry. Photo: Courtesy of Shapoorji Pallonji Group

The founder of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, with a net worth of $41.7 billion (roughly ₹3.5 lakh crore). The fourth wealthiest person in India, Mistry holds the 38th position among the world’s richest individuals and receives recognition for his philanthropic endeavours alongside his business ventures.

5. Savitri Jindal

Savitri Jindal, India’s wealthiest female, is the only businesswoman in the country’s top 10 richest people. As the Jindal Group’s chairperson, she holds a net worth of $36.1 billion (roughly ₹3.03 lakh crore) and is among the top 50 richest people globally.

The conglomerate has not only become one of India’s major steel producers under her leadership but also successfully expanded operations. These include power generation, infrastructure, cement, and textiles.

6. Dilip Shanghvi

7. Azim Premji

Azim Premji. Photo: Courtesy of World Economic Forum/Flickr

Former chairman of Wipro Limited and philanthropist, Azim Premji has a net worth of $30.2 billion (₹2.53 lakh crore). In 2019, Premji dropped from the 2nd position in the Forbes India Rich list to the 17th position after he gave away a huge amount to charity. Under his leadership, Wipro expanded from the cooking oil industry to the IT industry. Today, it is a leading software services company with a presence in over 50 countries.

8. Sunil Mittal

Sunil Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, boasts a net worth of $26.5 billion (₹2.22 lakh crore). Bharti Enterprises holds diversified interests in sectors including real estate, education, malls, telecom, insurance, hospitality, agriculture, and food.

Most of Mittal’s fortune comes from his stake in Airtel, which he holds through Bharti Enterprises and other holding companies. As of 2022, Airtel ranks among India's largest mobile phone operators, serving over 474 million customers. In addition to Bharti Airtel, the promoter also holds a 70% stake in the newly listed mobile services provider Bharti Hexacom.

9. Kumar Mangalam Birla

Kumar Birla with a net worth of $23.6 billion (₹1.98 lakh crore) leads the Aditya Birla Group, active in aluminium, cement, and financial services. He stepped down as Vodafone Idea’s non-executive chairman in 2021 due to debts but remains a non-executive director. His children, Ananya and Aryaman, are also part of the board of his flagship companies.

10. Radhakishan Damani

Avenue Supermarts Limited's founder Radhakishan Damani's $23.3 billion (roughly ₹1.95 lakh crore) worth places him tenth and last on this list. Damani became the retail king of India after his supermarket chain completed ₹1,870 crore ($229 million) IPO in March 2017.

The investor holds stakes in companies like VST Industries, India Cements, TV Today Network and Health and Glow. The transaction, worth around ₹700-750 crore, involved acquiring the business from the family offices of Rajan Raheja and Hemendra Kothari.

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