Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, continues to be the richest Indian for the ninth consecutive year on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List for 2020. Ambani has a total wealth of Rs 6,58,400 crore — there was a surge of 73 per cent in the last 12 months, propelling him to the rank of the richest individual in Asia.

The London-based Hinduja brothers (SP Hinduja, along with his three brothers) with a joint wealth of Rs 1,43,700 crore bagged the second position. HCL founder Shiv Nadar with a wealth of Rs 1,41,700 crore ranked third, followed by Gautam Adani & family at fourth spot and Wipro’s Azim Premji at fifth spot. Radhakishan Damani, founder of Avenue Supermarts, debuted in the top 10 wealthiest individuals ranking for 2020.

The list for 2020 identified a total of 828 individuals, including 40 women, with a wealth of at least Rs 1,000 crore, spread across 111 cities. The combined wealth of India’s richest is a staggering $823bn, equating to 1/3rd of India’s GDP.

“A 28 per cent of the upswing in wealth on the list has been bestowed by Mukesh Ambani, speaking of Ambani’s meteoric success post diversifying from oil to telecom and retail. Ambani’s wealth is now bigger than the combined wealth of the next five in the list,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun India.

Other names in the top 10 were Cyrus S Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry and Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry of Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

Smitha V Crishna of the Godrej empire ranks as the richest woman in the list with a wealth of Rs 32,400 crore, followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar- Shaw at Rs 31,600 crore. Nearly 5 per cent of the list (40 individuals) are women; and 10 of them are self-made.

The three founders of Indian unicorn Udaan became the highest gainers in terms of wealth since the 2019 edition — an increase of 274 per cent in wealth for each one. Founders of 11 unicorns made it to the rich list.

With a wealth of Rs 4,500 crore, Ritesh Agarwal (26) of Oyo Rooms is the youngest person on the list while with Rs 5,400 crore wealth, Dharam Pal Gulati (96) of MDH is the oldest.