The head of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, is once again the wealthiest person in India. His net worth is put at 32 billion dollars, an increase of 54 per cent from nearly 21 billion dollars last year, according to the latest Forbes’ India Rich List.

Trailing behind him are Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of 30 billion dollars, up 46 per cent from 20.5 billion dollars, and Mukesh’s estranged brother, Anil, whose net worth of 17.5 billion dollars, 40 per cent, higher than before, put him in the third place.

A rebounding stock market that gained two-thirds in the past year and an economy growing at 6% have boosted the net worth of India’s richest people, according to the Forbes’ India.

The combined net worth of India’s 100 richest people is 276 billion dollars, almost a quarter of the country’s GDP.

Last year, there were only 27 billionaires on the India Rich List. This year, the number has almost doubled to 52 — two short of what India had at the peak of the stock market boom in 2007.

Naazneen Karmali, India Editor of Forbes Asia and Mumbai bureau manager for Forbes magazine, said: “Happy days are definitely back again for India’s richest. This year’s list shows yet again that when conditions in the financial markets and the economy are right, India has the scale and resources to produce billionaires faster than most of the countries on earth.”

Indrajit Gupta, Editor of Forbes India, said: “The substantial jump in net worth is clear evidence that entrepreneurial capitalism is alive and kicking in India. What’s more, the growth in wealth creation has been broad-based. Entrepreneurs from a wide variety of sectors comprise the list.”

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