The son is still soaring high. Despite a dip in the fortunes of key Aditya Birla group companies in 1996-97, and a steely challenge from L N Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla has managed to retain his coveted position as the world's richest Indian.
For the second year in a row, Kumar Mangalam occupies pride of place among the Indian millionaires mentioned in the annual Forbes list of the world's richest people. Forbes puts Birla's personal net worth at about $2.06 billion, down from the $2.1 billion attributed to him last year, but still enough to help him edge out L N Mittal (personal wealth estimated at $1.9 billion) and Dhirubhai Ambani and family ($1.2 billion).
The Forbes list, which will be released shortly, includes the Godrej family, Rahul Bajaj, Ratan Tata and Keshub Mahindra.
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Adi Godrej and his family's wealth is pegged at $1.2 billion "" or equal to the Ambanis.
The Godrej family's biggest assets are stated to be the 3,000 acres owned by them in Mumbai, worth at least $850 million. Besides, the Godrej family has a stake of at least 49 per cent in 28 companies, of which only two "" Godrej Foods and Godrej Soaps "" are listed.
Rahul Bajaj's personal wealth is estimated at $700 million, while Keshub Mahindra is said to be worth $350 million. Ratan Tata brings up the rear, with a personal wealth of a mere $100 million.
Kumar Mangalam Birla took over the reins of the Aditya Birla group "" a multinational conglomerate with interests in textiles, viscose fibre, cement, carbon black, rayon pulp, refining, power and telecom "" in 1995. He owns about one-third of the 37 companies in the group, whose combined sales are around $4.2 billion.
L N Mittal and his wife, Usha, are said to control all the $6-billion assets in his steel empire, which spans Latin America, Europe and Central Asia. The L N Mittal group is the world's 12th largest steel-maker, with an annual output of 10 million tonnes.
Forbes describes Dhirubhai Ambani as a small-time yarn trader with a high school education, who built petrochemicals powerhouse Reliance into India's most profitable company.
His $1.2-billion wealth comes primarily from his family's 26 per cent stake in flagship Reliance Industries Ltd.