India’s richest people 2024: India’s billionaire count has soared to new heights, with the country adding a billionaire every five days over the past year. The 2024 Hurun India Rich List reveals that India now boasts 334 billionaires, an increase of 75 from the previous year. This marks the first time India has surpassed $300 billionaires, underscoring the rapid pace of wealth creation in the country.
Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher of Hurun India, expressed his enthusiasm for India’s growing economic prowess, stating, “India continues to score Gold in the ‘Wealth Creation Olympics’.” The top 20 sectors in the list have all added new faces, reflecting the dynamic and unstoppable spirit of Indian entrepreneurs driving growth across various industries.
India as Asia’s wealth-creation powerhouse
The report highlights India’s growing significance as Asia’s leading wealth-creation powerhouse. While China saw a 25% decrease in its billionaire population, India experienced a 29% increase, bringing the total number of billionaires to a record-breaking 334. This growth underscores India’s expanding influence in the global economy.
Diverse and widespread wealth creation
The 2024 Hurun India Rich List now includes 1,539 individuals, representing a wide array of wealth creators, including family-run businesses, startup founders, private equity investors, angel investors, next-generation leaders and film stars. The distribution of wealth creation has also become more geographically diverse, with the number of Indian cities represented in the rich list growing from 10 to 97 over the past decade.
According to the Hurun India report, there are 1,539 individuals in India with a wealth of at least Rs 1,000 crore. When the threshold is raised to Rs 5,000 crore, the list narrows down to 534 high net worth individuals (HNIs). Junaid estimates that for every individual on the list, two may have been missed, suggesting that India likely has around 5,000 individuals with a net worth of Rs 1,000 crore or more.
Cumulative wealth and notable entrants
The cumulative wealth of India’s richest individuals has risen by 46%, with an average wealth increase of 25%. The report notes that 1,334 individuals saw their wealth increase or stay the same, with 272 new faces joining the list. However, 205 individuals saw their wealth decline, and 45 dropped off the list altogether. The Real Estate and Industrial Products sectors added the most new entrants, with Industrial Products contributing 142 individuals to the list.
Youngest billionaires and leading figures
Kaivalya Vohra, the 21-year-old co-founder of quick commerce delivery firm Zepto, is the youngest individual on the list, with an estimated wealth of Rs 3,600 crore. The youngest billionaires are Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, both 33 years old and founders of the payment solutions app Razorpay.
India’s top billionaires
Among India’s billionaires, Gautam Adani’s family tops the list with a net worth estimated at Rs 11.6 lakh crore, followed by the Ambani family at Rs 10.14 lakh crore. Other notable billionaires include HCL’s Shiv Nadar, ‘vaccine king’ Cyrus S Poonawalla, Dilip Sanghvi, Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Hindujas, Radhakishan Damani, Azim Premji and Niraj Bajaj.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
