RIL's Mukesh Ambani richest Indian for 5th straight year: Forbes

NEW YORK: Mukesh Ambani has retained his position as the world's richest Indian for the fifth year in a row, although his networth declined by $ 1.6 billion to $ 21 billion but remained well above that of the second-ranked Lakshmi Mittal.

Steel baron Mittal's networth also fell by $ 3 billion at $ 16 billion, making him the second richest, as per global business magazine Forbes' annual ranking of 100 wealthiest Indians, released today.

Ambani, who heads energy-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries group, and Mittal were followed by IT czar Azim Premji ($ 12.2 billion), construction major and Tata group's major shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji group patriarch Pallonji Mistry ($ 9.8 billion) and drugmaker Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi ($ 9.2 billion) in the top-five.

Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani, who heads telecom- to-infrastructure conglomerate Reliance Group, was ranked 11th with a networth of $ 6 billion.

Others in top-10 ranking include Adi Godrej at 6th position ($ 9 billion), followed by Savitri Jindal ($ 8.2 billion), Shashi & Ravi Ruia ($ 8.1 billion), Hinduja Brothers ($ 8 billion) and Kumar Mangalam Birla ($ 7.8 billion).

Even as the networth of top-ranked persons like Ambani and Mittal fell, the collective wealth of India's richest 100 rose by 3.7 per cent ($ 9 billion) to $ 250 billion in the past one year, Forbes said.

The number of billionaires also rose to 61, from 57 last year. Sun Pharma group's Shanghvi entered the top-five for the first time.