Adani overtakes Ambani as richest Indian
Gautam Adani and family reclaimed the top spot on India’s rich list, overtaking Mukesh Ambani, as the country’s billionaire population hit a record 391, according to the M3M Hurun India Rich List.
Adani’s wealth rose 13 per cent to Rs 9.23 lakh crore ($ 96 billion), while Ambani’s fell 10 per cent to Rs 8.63 lakh crore, leaving a gap of Rs 59,400 crore between the two. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and family jumped to third place, with wealth nearly doubling to Rs 3.39 lakh crore, boosted by higher European steel prices and trade protection.
Vaccine maker Serum Institute’s Cyrus Poonawalla and family were ranked fourth, followed by HCL’s Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sun Pharmaceutical’s Dilip Shanghvi and Wipro’s Azim Premji. Anil Agarwal and family climbed to ninth with Rs 2.08 lakh crore, while Samir Mehta and family entered the top 10 at 10th after a 52 per cent increase in wealth following the completion of the JB Chemicals merger. “Charted together over a decade, the ten richest Indians cross and re-cross one another repeatedly. The most closely fought contest is at the top: Gautam Adani and family overtook Mukesh Ambani and family in 2022, fell behind again in 2023, retook the lead in 2024, lost it in 2025, and have now reclaimed it — five changes of position in five years,” Hurun said. Adani’s line is also the most volatile on the chart, peaking at Rs 11.62 lakh crore in 2024, then falling to Rs 8.15 lakh crore before recovering to Rs 9.23 lakh crore.
Mukesh Ambani’s line rose from Rs 2.58 lakh crore in 2017 to Rs 10.15 lakh crore in 2024 but has since given up ground in two successive years to Rs 8.63 lakh crore.
“The chase pack is where the weaving is densest. All eight of the remaining top ten sat between Rs 17,300 crore and Rs 2.58 lakh crore in 2017 and are now bunched between Rs 1.89 lakh crore and Rs 3.39 lakh crore, having traded places many times over. LN Mittal & family began the decade ahead of the group, slipped behind between 2020 and 2022, and have surged clear to third at Rs 3.39 lakh crore.
