TL;DR: As the Indian economy rises, the rich list of India sees a change in its dynamics.
India's economy eclipsed the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest in the world due to the post-pandemic boom. The rupee's decline of 10% over the same period was the dominant driver in the stock market's slight decline from a year earlier. Despite this, the combined wealth of India's top 100 earners increased by $25 billion to reach $800 billion.
The top 100 Indian billionaires, according to Forbes 2022, have been revealed. According to the list, the wealth of India's top 100 individuals increased by $25 billion to reach $800 billion. The weaker rupee, which plummeted by 10% during the same period, was the primary dampener, despite the stock market only slightly declining from a year earlier. The top spot is now held by Gautam Adani, with Mukesh Ambani coming in at number two.
As per Forbes, the overall gains were primarily due to the record-breaking feats of infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani, who has changed the "rich list" dynamics for the first time since 2008.
There are nine fresh entrants this year, including three from initial public offerings (IPOs): shoemaker Rafique Malik, who listed Metro Brands last December and came in at number 89; ethnic clothing producer Ravi Modi, who came in at number 50; and former banker and Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar, who after listing her beauty and fashion retail firm became India's richest self-made woman.There were three notable deaths on the list this year: Rahul Bajaj, ailing scion of the Bajaj family; Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, India's Big Bull and often referred to as the Indian Warren Buffet, who died after launching Akasa Air in August and his wife, Rekha, now takes his place; and construction magnate Pallonji Mistry, whose 54-year-old son Cyrus Mistry died in a car crash in September, leaving his other son Shapoor Mistry at the helm of the Parsee family's $14.2 billion fortune.
Anand Mahindra, whose company Mahindra & Mahindra who made quite a buzz among the headlines by introducing an electric SUV, is one of the four prominent returnees.
Among the notable drop-offs was Vijay Shekhar Sharma, whose One97 Communications, the parent firm of fintech Paytm, saw its shares plummet amid the worldwide tech rout. The threshold for the top 100 was $1.9 billion, nearly the same as the $1.94 billion cutoff from the previous year.
