• All the 100 richest people named by Forbes together are worth $452 billion.
  
• However, his year’s total fortune of the 100 richest people is 8% more than last year.’
  
• Mukesh Ambani remains the richest person in India with a total net worth of $51.4 billion.
  
  

The top 100 richest people in India together hold a fortune of $452 billion — that’s 16.58% of the country’s GDP. According to World Bank, India’s GDP was $2.76 trillion in 2018 and its per capita income is $1,670 per annum.

Mukesh Ambani adds over $4 billion to his wealth

According to the Forbes India rich list 2019, this year’s total fortune of the 100 richest people is 8% less than last year.

Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in India with a total net worth of $51.4 billion. He added $4.1 billion after the success of Reliance’s flagship telecom business— Jio. The venture which started in 2016 added over 330 million subscribers.

Ambani is followed by Gautam Adani, the promoter of Adani group, who jumped from position 8 in 2018 to 2 this year.

Hinduja brothers came in at the third position. Their networth has dropped from $19.5 billion in 2018 to $15.6 billion in 2019. Forbes placed Pallonji Mistry ($14.4), the owner of the 154-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group at fourth position.

Uday Kotak,who is among the three gainers on the list, took the fifth position. He added $4 billion to his wealth thanks to a 39% increase in the value of his stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank.

India’s per capita income is $148 a month

A government report earlier stated that India’s per capita income is around $148 (₹10,534) in FY 19.

This comes after a Credit Suisse report highlighted the inequality in wealth distribution in India. According to the 2018 report , 77.4% of India’s wealth is in the hands of 10% of its population.And, 1% of the richest of India control more than 51% of the country’s wealth.

“While wealth has been rising in India, not everyone has shared in this growth. There is still considerable wealth poverty, reflected in the fact that 91% of the adult population has wealth below $10,000. At the other extreme, a small fraction of the population (0.6% of adults) has a net worth over $100,000,” said Credit Suisse.

Billionaires lost more than $1 billion because of economic slowdown

Most of the people on the list have lost fortune except for Ambani, Adani and Kotak.

The net worth of half the listees shrank because of the current economic slowdown. As many as 14 people on the list lost more than $1 billion, reported Forbes. However, the total wealth held by all the 100 people, is still more than India’s per capita income.

See more:
Byju Raveendran is the newest face on the Forbes list of 100 richest Indians

Savitri Jindal, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Leena Tiwari — the only three women on Forbes list of 100 richest Indians

Uday Kotak, Asia's richest banker, multiplied his wealth four times in a decade