Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani topped the 2021 Forbes list of India's 10 richest billionaires with a net worth of $84.5 billion, he was followed by Adani Group chief Gautam Adani.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambani accomplished a fund-raising feat, garnering $35 billion through a string of deals to achieve his target of reducing his flagship Reliance Industries' net debt to zero by 2021.
"He also sold a third of telecom unit Jio to marquee investors such as Facebook and Google and offloaded 10% of Reliance Retail to private equity firms such as KKR and General Atlantic, plus concluded a $7.3 billion rights issue of Reliance shares," Forbes said.
Gautam Adani, has also diversified the group's business and has taken a significant share in India's airport management and operations business. His net worth stands at $50.5 billion.
According to Forbes, Adani is now the second-richest Indian, a spot previously occupied by retailing king Radhakishan Damani, whose fortune was divided this year.
Adani acquired a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport, the country's second-busiest airport, last September. He also sold a 20% stake in his listed renewables firm, Adani Green Energy, to French energy giant Total for $2.5 billion.
The third richest Indian is HCL founder Shiv Nadar as per the Forbes list of India's 10 Richest Billionaires 2021, with a net worth of $23.5 billion.
Last July, Nadar stepped down as chairman of $9.9 billion (revenues) HCL Technologies, handing over the position to his daughter, Roshni Nadar Malhotra.
Avenue Supermarts' founder Radhakishan Damani ($16.5 billion) and Kotak Mahindra Bank MD Uday Kotak ($15.9 billion) took the fourth and the fifth spot in the list, respectively.
Two of the ten richest Indians get their wealth from healthcare, according to Forbes. Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India, and Dilip Shanghvi, who climbed back into the top 10, propelled by a jump in shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, made this year’s list.