Forbes rich list: DMart owner, Paytm's Sharma among 101 Indian billionaires featured

India is home to 101 billionaires, the first time it has has more than 100 super rich individuals, according to the Forbes global billionaires list for 2017. According to the list, the US continues to have more billionaires than any other nation, with a record 565, up from 540 a year ago. China is catching up with 319, Germany has the third most with 114 and India has the fourth highest number of billionaires. There are nearly 20 people of Indian origin who have made fortunes in various nations across the world, led by the UK-based Hinduja brothers ranked 64th in the list with US $15.4 billion net worth. Indian-born tycoon Pallonji Mistry, who controls the 152-year-old Mumbai-headquartered engineering giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is at the 77th spot with $14.3 billion net worth and petrochemicals major Indorama co-founder Sri Prakash Lohia at the 288th spot with $5.4 billion net worth. [caption id=“attachment_3206718” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Mukesh Ambani, 59, leads the pack of Indian billionaires, coming in at the 33rd position with a net worth of $23.2 billion. The list includes only four women billionaires from India, led by Savitri Jindal and her family at the 303rd position with a net worth of $5.2 billion. Smita Crishna-Godrej from the Godrej clan is ranked 814th followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (973) and Leena Tewari (1030), chair of USV India that specialises in diabetic and cardiovascular drugs. Founder of mobile wallet Paytm Vijay Shekhar Sharma is ranked 1567 with a net worth of $1.3 billion. Forbes said Paytm was “one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government’s decision to demonetise 86 percent of India’s rupees and move to a cashless economy”, notching up 200 million registered users and five million transactions daily. Making his debut on the list at 814th spot is Acharya Balkrishna, friend of yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who holds 97 percent stake in the fast-growing consumer goods firm Patanjali Ayurveda. His net worth is US $2.5 billion. Veteran Mumbai investor Radhakishan Damani, who is also a mentor to billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, makes his debut on the list at 896th rank with $2.3 billion net worth, buoyed by the recent IPO of his hypermarket chain DMart. He holds stakes in a range of companies, from tobacco firm VST industries to cement maker India Cements. Jewellery stores owner, Joy Alukkas with US $1.6 billion net worth also figured in the list first time at 1290th spot. Here is the full list of Indian billionaires figured in the Forbes rich list:

With PTI inputs