Explained: The rise of India's new billionaires and the fall of the old

India is going through one of the greatest periods of wealth creation -- and destruction -- all at the same time.

A new breed of self-made entrepreneurs is vaulting into the ranks of the wealthy, offsetting billions lost by debt-burdened industrialists and members of the country’s old dynasties. The changes are set to help India’s ultra-rich population grow at the world’s fastest pace.

It’s a shift shaped partly by a debt-fueled expansion that left businesses from power generation to airlines with $190 billion in soured loans. Over the past few years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has cracked down on delinquent borrowers,