Ten new Indians in world billionaires club

New York, Mar 9: Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is ranked the world's fifth richest on the Forbes billionaires list that has ten new Indians this year.

Microsoft's Bill Gates is the leader with 50 billion dollars while Mittal boasts of a net worth of 20 billion.

India is home to ten new billionaires, more than any other country besides the United States. The total number of Indian billionaires is 27.
On the Indian billionaires list is Wipro's Azim Premji, behind Mittal at 11 billion dollars and the Ambani brothers, Mukesh (7 billion) and Anil (5.5 billion).

The newcomers include DLF's Kushal Pal Singh (5 billion), Tulsi Tanti, who built Asia's largest wind energy farm, with 3.7 billion, liquor baron Vijay Mallya (0.95 billion) and online gaming mogul Anurag Dikshit (3.1 billion).

The Indian list also has Bharti group's Sunil Mittal (4.9 billion), Aditya Birla Group's Kumar Birla (4.4 billion) and construction magnate Pallonji Mistri (3.3 billion).

The Forbes, which uncovered some 140 billionares on its first list 20 years ago, had found 476 on its second list three years ago. This year, its a record 793 billionaires worldwide, up 102 from last year.

The world's 793 richest people are worth a combined 2.6 trillion dollars, each worth an average 3.3 billion.

Strong stock markets around the world (except the United States) contributed to this surge in wealth, says the Forbes. India's BSE Sensex was up 54 per cent in the past 12 months, it says.

The second richest person in the world is still American Warren Buffet (42 billion), third comes Mexican Carlos Slim Helu (30 billion) and fourth is Ingvar Maprad of Sweden (28 billion).

Seventy-eight women make the list, ten more than last year.

UNI