Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani remains at No. 1 for the 13th year in the Forbes List of Indias 100 Richest, as the tycoon added $37.3 billion, bringing his fortune to $88.7 billion, a rise of 73 per cent.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic which hit India hard and led to a sharp economic contraction, half of the nation’s 100 richest on the 2020 Forbes India Rich List saw gains. Their collective net worth rose 14 per cent to $517.5 billion from a year earlier, even as the benchmark BSE Sensex stock index remained flat from a year ago.
Mukesh Ambani accounted for more than half of those gains.
Shares of his Reliance Industries soared when, amid the nation’s lockdown, Ambani raised more than $20 billion from a string of marquee investors for Jio Platforms, Reliance’s fast-growing digital arm. Investors are now eyeing Reliance Retail, which has already raised more than $5 billion.
Infrastructure magnate Gautam Adani retains the second spot on the list by boosting his net worth 61 per cent to $25.2 billion. Forbes said unfazed by the pandemic-induced travel slowdown, Adani, who aspires to be India’s airport king, acquired a 74 per cent stake in Mumbai airport, the country’s second-busiest.
