Forbes released the list of India’s 100 richest, Mukesh Ambani again at the top position.

New Delhi (Uttam Hindu News): In a dramatic change in the top ranking, Mukesh Ambani has taken the No. 1 spot in the 2023 Forbes list of India’s 100 richest. The collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people remained stable at $799 billion this year. India is excited after hosting the G20 summit in New Delhi this September and becoming the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Reflecting this sentiment, India’s stock market rose 14 percent.

But this surge, due to the weak rupee, was not reflected in the collective net worth of India’s 100 richest people, which remained stagnant at $799 billion. Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani took the No. 1 spot with a net worth of $92 billion.

The fortunes of infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani, who overtook Ambani as India’s richest person for the first time last year, reversed dramatically in January after a report by US short seller Hindenburg Research sent shares in his group plunging. Despite some recovery since then, his net worth fell from $82 billion to $68 billion and he slipped to second place.

Software tycoon Shiv Nadar has climbed two places to third place with a net worth of $29.3 billion. Last year, shares of HCL Technologies had risen by 42 percent. Power and Steel Group OP Jindal Group matriarch Savitri Jindal is at fourth place with $24 billion, a rise of 46 per cent.

Rounding out the top five is Avenue Supermarts’ Radhakishan Damani, whose wealth has declined to $23 billion from $27.6 billion earlier. Nazneen Karmali, Asia Wealth Editor and India Editor of Forbes Asia, said India is making progress and is being considered an attractive destination by global investors.

Inder Jaisinghani, the biggest gainer this year, is at number 32 with $6.4 billion. His family’s net worth nearly doubled as his wire and cable company, Polycab India, benefited from increasing electrification. Pharma brothers Ramesh and Rajeev Juneja gained a healthy 64 per cent from the listing of Mankind Pharma in May, taking them to 29th position with $6.9 billion.

There are three new entrants to the same list this year. Following the demise of her husband Mickey Jagtiani in May, Renuka Jagtiani, chairperson of Dubai-headquartered retailing giant Landmark Group, is at number 44 with Rs 4.8 billion. Also new to the list is Asian Paints’ Dani family (No. 22, Rs 8 billion), heirs to patriarch Ashwin Dani, who died in September.

The third newcomer is textile exporter K.P. Ramasamy (No. 100, Rs 2.3 billion). He is K.P.R. Founder and Chairman of the Mill. The seven returnees this year include Ranjan Pai (No. 86, $2.75 billion), who cashed in $1 billion by selling a portion of his stake in hospital chain Manipal Health Enterprises to Singapore’s Temasek.

Notable among the eight drop-offs are ed tech duo Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, whose company Byju’s has seen its valuation fall sharply amid myriad challenges.