United Arab Emirates (UAE) has once again come into the limelight as seven Non-Resident Indian (NRI) billionaire tycoons residing there have made to the Forbes’ annual Rich List of 100 Indians.
The list has been topped by none other than Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, for the tenth consecutive time with net assets of USD38 billion. Ambani added USD15.3 billion to his net worth this year, making him the biggest dollar gainer on the list and one of Asia's top five richest.
Forbes said, “Improved refining margins and his telecom unit Reliance Jio's thundering success in notching up 130 million subscribers since its 2016 launch boosted shares of his Reliance Industries.”
As far as UAE is concerned, Yusufali MA occupies 27th position in the 100 super-rich Indian list with an estimated wealth of USD5 billion. He is followed by Micky Jagtiani of Landmark Group (32nd, USD4.3 billion), BR Shetty of NMC Group (34th, USD3.9 billion), Ravi Pillai of RP Group (35th, USD3.8 billion), Sunny Varkey of Gems Group (65th, USD2.4 billion), Sunil Vaswani of Stallion Group (69th, USD2.25 billion) and Shamsheer Vayalil of VPS Healthcare (94th, USD1.57 billion).
The figuring of seven NRI billionaires living in UAE further reaffirms that the country is the most-sought after destination for the super-rich Indians.
Last week, about 14 wealthy NRIs figured in the Hurun Report, a leading authority on India’s private wealth, making UAE the most preferred destination for immigration, followed by 10 in UK and 8 in US.
Also read: UAE is preferred destination for richest NRIs: Hurun’s Report
Naazneen Karmali, India editor of Forbes Asia, said, “Despite India's economic slowdown, the country's 100 richest have collectively enjoyed a bumper year thanks to a buoyant stock market. While the Indian billionaire factory continued to churn out new names from diverse sectors, the price of entry rose to a record high. The top 100 club is getting more exclusive with each passing year.”
Interestingly, the entry point to this coveted list was at its highest ever at USD1.46 billion, with several billionaires waiting in the wings.
The combined net worth of India's 100 wealthiest stood at USD479 billion, a rise of 26 per cent from USD374 billion in 2016.
The second position in the prestigious annual Rich List of 100 was tech tycoon Azim Premji with a net worth of USD19 billion; he jumped two places to number 2 this year after adding USD4 billion to his wealth.
“The gain is partly due to increased revenue and profit at his privately held consumer-goods business Wipro Enterprises, which makes everything from soaps to lightbulbs,” Forbes said.
Also read: Golden Indians of the Desert Kingdom: 5 living legends of the Emirates
The Hinduja brothers (third, USD18.4 billion) added USD3.2 billion this year to their net worth.
Other top 10 billionaires in this exclusive club are Lakshmi Mittal (fourth, USD16.5 billion), Pallonji Mistry (fifth, USD16 billion), the Godrej family (sixth, USD14.2 billion), Shiv Nadar (seventh, USD13.6 billion), Kumar Birla (eighth, USD12.6 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (ninth, USD12.1 billion), and Gautam Adani (10th, USD11 billion).