India's richest lose wealth to inflation, corruption scandals
PTI | 04:10 PM,Oct 27,2011New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) India's richest are losing wealth due to inflation and corruption scandals, according to Forbes magazine, which says that the combined wealth of the country's 100 wealthiest is down 20 per cent from a year ago. According to Forbes' annual India Rich List, the total wealth of the country's 100 richest has fallen to USD 241 billion, down by 20 per cent or an estimated USD 60 billion. The number of billionaires has also fallen by a dozen to 57 currently, Forbes said, while adding that falling stock and currency prices also led to diminishing of their wealth. Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries Group, has retained his position as the richest Indian with a networth of USD 22.6 billion, though his wealth declined by USD 4.4 billion in past one year. Forbes said that Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani saw the biggest erosion in his wealth in absolute terms, making him the biggest dollar loser. Anil Ambani's net worth declined by USD 7.4 billion to USD 5.9 billion and he "slipped out of the top 10 for the first time since his 2004 debut". He is ranked 13th in this year's list. Power producer Lanco Infratech's Madhusudan Raw was the biggest loser in percentage terms as his networth fell by 78 per cent during the past one year. Mukesh Ambani is followed by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and technology czar Azim Premji at second and third slots with networth of USD 19.2 billion and USD 13 billion, respectively. In the top-five, Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Azim Premji are followed by Essar group's Shashi and Ravi Ruia (USD 10.2 billion at 4th position) and OP Jindal group's Savitri Jindal (USD 9.5 billion at 5th). MORE
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