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India has more billionaires than Japan

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BS Reporter New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 05 2013 | 12:35 AM IST
The country tops Forbes' list of Asian billionaires.
 
With 36 of its billion-plus citizens worth over a billion dollars, India has replaced Japan as Asia's top breeding ground for the super-rich, says the Forbes 2007 listing of billionaires.
 
Amongst the top dozen Asian billionaires, there are no fewer than nine Indians. All told, Asia added 54 new billionaires in the last one year, 14 of which were from India. In other words, every fourth new Asian billionaire was from India.
 
"After two decades, Japan is no longer Asia's top spot for billionaires," Forbes said in a release issued today. Last year, Japan had 27 entries on the list and India, 23.
 
Globally, only the US (415), Germany (55) and Russia (53) now have more billionaires than India. For the first time, three Indians "� Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Mukesh Ambani, and Anil Ambani "� have made it to the top 20. In the past, only Mittal had broken into the ranks of this elite group. Though Mittal's wealth has swollen from $23.5 billion to $32 billion in the last one year, he is still the fifth richest man in the world.
 
On the other hand, the Ambani brothers have vastly improved their wealth as well as rankings in the last one year. Mukesh Ambani's wealth has shot up from $8.5 billion to $20.1 billion, which has made him leapfrog from the 56th spot to the 14th.
 
Anil Ambani's wealth has gone up from $5.7 billion to $18.2 billion, improving his ranking from 104 last year to 18 this time. Both the brothers have now overtaken Azim Premji of Wipro, who has been ranked 21st this year with a personal fortune of $17.1 billion.
 
"Indian feuding brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, who split their fortune in 2005, are notable for their rapid rise in the rankings, from 56 and 104, respectively, last year," Forbes said in the release.
 
Regulars on the list too have seen an improvement in their rankings. While Premji has added $3.8 billion of wealth and moved up four places, Sunil Mittal's worth has improved from $4.9 billion to $9.5 billion and his ranking has gone up from 125 to 69.
 
Kumar Mangalam Birla and the Ruia brothers, Shashi and Ruia, are on the 86th position this year with wealth of $8 billion. With $4.4 billion against his name, Birla was 140th last year, while the Ruias were 245th with $2.8 billion.
 
The 36 Indian billionaires are together worth $191 billion. Last year, the 23 Indian billionaires on the Forbes list had a combined wealth of $98.8 billion.
 
The new Indians on this year's list include a number of real estate and construction magnates. While Kushal Pal Singh of DLF entered the club last year (he has increased his wealth from $5 billion to $10 billion this year and his position from 114 to 62 ), this year's list includes Ramesh Chandra of Unitech, Vikas Oberoi of Oberoi Constructions, and Pradeep Jain of Parsvnath Developers. Construction barons on the list are Pallonji Mistry ,Grandhi Rao and Jaiprakash Gaur.

 

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First Published: Mar 10 2007 | 12:00 AM IST

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