Indian billionaires lose $212 bn since last year: Forbes

KUALA LUMPUR: India's richest have suffered a value erosion of a massive $ 212 billion largely due to the global financial turmoil, which took a toll on the equity markets as well as property prices, Forbes says.

Mentioning that these are painful times for India's tycoons, Forbes said compared with the last year, the net-worth of the country's 40 wealthiest people fell by $ 212 billion to $ 139 billion.

The combined net-worth of India's 40 richest has nosedived by 60 per cent, hitting steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal the hardest, as he had to vacate the four-year held Numero Uno position to Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani.

Mittal saw his fortune drop by $ 30.5 billion amid declining steel prices. Last year, Mittal had a net-worth of $ 51 billion.



Meanwhile, the Ambani Brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- together lost as much as $ 60.7 billion since the past year.

The wealth erosion was across the board as on an average 33 of the 34 people that returned to the list this year have become poorer by at least 20 per cent, Forbes said.

"Thirty three of the 34 tycoons who returned to the our rankings of India's richest are at least 20 per cent poorer than they were a year ago," the magazine said.

"Only one fortune from last year's ranks increased, that of brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who sold their 34 per cent stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo at a hefty premium to its current stock price. They added $ 550 million to their combined wealth," it added.

The factors that were responsible for pulling down the fortune of these billionaires include the massive erosion in the country's benchmark index that fell as much as 48 per cent since last year. Besides, the rupee depreciating 24 per cent against the dollar and slowdown in GDP growth has also impacted the list.