India's billionaires the richest of Asia's rich

LEADING THE PACK: Mr Mittal is India's richest man and No. 5 in the world. His Arcelor-Mittal operations account for 10 per cent of the world's entire steel production.



NEW DELHI - INDIA now has produced Asia's richest billionaires, according to Forbes magazine's latest list of the world's wealthiest people.

With 36 billionaires worth US$191 billion (S$291 billion) in all, India's are the richest of Asia's rich. Three of them are among the 20 wealthiest people in the world.

China and Hong Kong combined have more billionaires - 41 - but their total net worth lags behind India's at a mere US$140 billion.

'India has just been a phenomenal story, with three billionaires in the top 20,' said Forbes associate editor Luisa Kroll, who oversaw the report.

India's wealthy have become so rich that there is a US$31 billion gap between its 'richest' and 'poorest' billionaires.

The man who tops India's rich list - Mr Lakshmi Mittal - is the fifth-richest man in the world.

Mr Mittal, 56, has built the family's steel-making business into a US$32 billion fortune.

His Arcelor-Mittal operations, which span 60 countries and employ 330,000 people, account for 10 per cent of the world's entire steel production, well ahead of Japan's Nippon Steel.

Besides Mr Mittal, two brothers in India also rank among the world's 20 richest people.

Mr Mukesh Ambani, 49, heads manufacturing giant Reliance Industries, which was created by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani. He is at No. 14 with US$20.1 billion.

Also in his portfolio are Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Fresh food store chain.

Younger brother Anil, 47, has US$18.2 billion, putting him at No. 18 on Forbes list of the world's richest men.

In a feud with his older brother over their father's businesses, he took over the family's telecom, finance and power interests.

Other new Indian billionaires include some colourful characters.

Liquor king Vijay Mallya, 51, who is also a Member of Parliament, took over the United Breweries group from his late father in 1983. He built it into the world's third-largest spirits company and a US$1.5 billion fortune.

Mr Mallya, who flaunts his wealth, is also the promoter of Kingfisher Airlines.

At 35, Mr. Anurag Dikshit, is one of the youngest of India's new billionaires, and a self-made one at that.

He owes his US$1.6 billion fortune to an online gambling business that incurred the wrath of the US government when it cracked down on Internet betting.

The new billionaires also include Mr Grandhi Rao, who has amassed US$2.6 billion through construction of infrastructure projects, Mr Kalanithi Maran, owner of Tamil TV channel Sun, Mr Malvinder Singh and Mr Shivinder Singh of Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, and Mr Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways, India's largest private airline.

Among the 'poorest' of India's billionaires, with US$ 1.1 billion each, are Mr Pradeep Jain, 41, a real estate magnate, and Mr Rahul Bajaj, 68, who manufactures two-wheeled automobiles.