MUKESH AMBANI, who heads the oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries Group, has retained his position as the world`s richest Indian with a net worth of USD 22.6 billion (£14 bn), as per the Forbes India annual rich list.
Despite a fall of USD 4.4 billion (£3 bn) in his net worth over the past one year, Ambani managed to hold the top slot.
He is followed by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and technology czar Azim Premji, as per the list published on Thursday (October 27) by the Indian edition of global business magazine Forbes.
Mittal was ranked second with a net worth of USD 19.2 billion (£12 bn), while Premji was at the third position with USD 13 billion (£8.1 bn) of net worth, Forbes said.
The 100 richest persons in the country together saw their net worth falling by 20 per cent in one year, to USD 241 billion (£150 bn), as inflation, corruption scandals and falling stock and currency prices diminished their wealth.
The list comprises of 57 billionaires, a dozen less than the last year.
Forbes said that Mukesh`s younger brother Anil Ambani saw the biggest erosion in his wealth in absolute terms, while power producer Lanco Infratech`s Madhusudan Raw was the biggest loser in percentage terms as his net worth fell by 78 per cent during the past one year.
Anil Ambani`s net worth declined by USD 7.4 billion (£4.6 bn) to USD 5.9 billion (£3.7 bn) and he "slipped out of the top 10 for the first time since his 2004 debut". He was ranked 13th in this year`s list.
In the top-five, Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Azim Premji were followed by Essar group`s Shashi and Ravi Rua and Savitri Jindal at the fifth position.
