Hurun rich list surprises: Damani's wealth up 320%, Balkrishna makes debut

Note ban, GST helped the rich to accumulate more wealth: Hurun; Mukesh Ambani retains the richest Indian title for the sixth year running

While Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved has been giving multinational FMCG majors a run for their money, the wealth of its head Acharya Balkrishna is rising consistently. Now, Balkrishna has made it to the Hurun India Rich List for this year, as the eighth wealthiest Indian.

Another interesting fact about the rich list this year is the surge in the wealth of Radhakishan Damani, the founder of D-Mart stores.

While Balkrishna’s combined wealth is Rs 70,000 crore, Damani was the biggest gainer, with his wealth increasing 320%.

Haridwar-based, 45-year-old Balkrishna rose to the eighth position from 25th last year, after his wealth grew by 173%. Patanjali Ayruveda, which he set up with Ramdev, had a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in FY17. It was giving tough competition to international brands, according to a Hurun statement.

Following 62-year-old Damani, the biggest gainer was Anurang Jain, 55, the managing director of Endurance Technology. His and his family’s wealth increased by 286%.

The top three in the biggest gainers list were backed by the initial public offerings (IPO) performance of their companies. Damani’s Avenue Supermarts was listed at a premium of 102% and rallied a further 43% as of 31 July.

Also helping the rich consolidate their wealth was government policies such as the note ban in November last year and the roll-out of the goods and services tax (GST) in July this year, according to the Hurun report.

“Demonetisation, the implementation of the GST… have not impacted wealth creation in the organised sector. In fact, going by the trend in the list, these factors seem to have positively impacted the mega rich and their companies. Despite the solid performance of the corporate entities, a decline in national gross domestic product growth points to the impact of such schemes on the unorganised sectors,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher, Hurun Report India.

Among other surprises, 42-year-old Bengaluru-based Ambiga Subramanian emerged as the youngest self-made woman in the list, as she sold her shares in Mu Sigma, the data analytics unicorn that she co-founded.

The pharmaceuticals and consumer products companies were biggest gainer this year, with the two sectors doubling the number of entrants to 79 and 63, respectively.

On an average, the wealth of those on the Hurun India Rich List has increased by 11%, compared to that of last year. Sixteen people saw their wealth double year-on-year. The number of dollar billionaires has increased to 136 from 126 last year. However, 100 individuals saw their wealth decline.

Chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, 60, with net worth of Rs 2.57 lakh crore is ranked first in the list for the sixth consecutive year. Share price of Reliance Industries hit a nine-year high in July this year.

Over the past year, Reliance Industries’ shares have gained over 1% every seven days, rising by 56% in 52 weeks. Ambani’s wealth is 50% more than the GDP of Yemen — where Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the Reliance Group, first worked as a petrol pump attendant.

Another notable performer was Kishore Biyani of Future Retail; he registered a 259% increase in wealth. The merger of Future Retail and Bharti Retail created the biggest supermarket chain with a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore and its subsequent relisting resulted in significant wealth creation for Biyani.

All the under-40 entrepreneurs in the Hurun India Rich List 2017 derive their wealth from innovative technological ventures.

Divyank Turakhia, 34, of Media.net is the youngest self-made billionaire in the list. Divyank Turakhia bootstrapped his company Media.net without external funding. Rest of the entrepreneurs raised money from some of the top international funds.

The Hurun India Rich List is based on a comparison with their listed equivalents using prevailing industry multiples such as price to earnings, price to sales, EV to sales, EV to Ebitda, and also other methodologies. In certain cases of early-stage companies, the First Chicago Method for valuation has been used.