Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani overtook Adani Group’s Gautam Adani to become the richest Indian in the rankings of the 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023, which was released on Tuesday.

Ambani’s wealth grew marginally by 2 per cent to Rs 8.08 lakh crore. However, his counterpart, Gautam Adani’s fortune fell by 57 per cent to Rs 4.74 lakh crore, amid a massive stock rout in his group firms this year, after a report by a US-based short seller against the group.

In January, short seller Hindenburg Research published a report on the Adani Group, alleging that the conglomerate has done accounting frauds over the course of decades and involved in “brazen stock market manipulation”. The report led to a sharp correction in the group stocks and consequent wealth erosion for the promoter family. The Adani Group has denied all the allegations made by the short seller.

A total of 1,319 individuals from 138 cities feature on the Hurun 2023 list which uses August 30 as the base date to assess fortunes.

Serum Institute of India’s (SII) MD and chairman Cyrus Poonwalla retained his position as the third wealthiest Indian, as his fortune jumped 36 per cent to Rs 2.78 lakh crore. Meanwhile, HCL Technologies’ founder and chairman Shiv Nadar retained his position as the fourth richest in India, with a 23 per cent increase in his wealth to Rs 2.28 lakh crore.
A majority of individuals in the top-10 rankings climbed up their spots, including Gopichand Hinduja who is ranked fifth now, Dilip Shanghvi (sixth), L N Mittal (seventh), Kumar Mangalam (ninth) and Niraj Bajaj (tenth).

However, D-Mart founder Radhakishan Damani’s net worth dropped 18 per cent to Rs 1.43 lakh crore. Damani slipped three ranks to become the eighth richest Indian.

Additionally, Radha Vembu of Zoho overtook Falguni Nayar to become the richest self-made Indian woman, while Zepto’s Kaivalya Vohra was the youngest on the list.
Precision Wires India company MD and CEO Mahendra Ratilal Mehta, at the age of 94, debuted on the list.

According to Hurun, India added two new billionaires every three weeks in the past year and now has 259 billionaires, a 4.4-fold increase in 12 years.

Amid concerns about inequalities, the list said 51 individuals’ wealth doubled this year compared to 24 last year.
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Mukesh Ambani overtakes Gautam Adani to become richest Indian on Hurun list