Kaivalya Vohra, Aadit Palicha Of Zepto Lead Hurun India Rich List Of Young Entrepreneurs

Kaivalya Vohra, 21, and Aadit Palicha, 22, of the quick-commerce startup Zepto have emerged as the youngest entrepreneurs on the 2024 Hurun India Rich List, with net worths of Rs 3,600 crore and Rs 4,300 crore, respectively.

The list, released on Thursday, also features SG Finserve's Rohan Gupta & Family, 25, in third place with a wealth of Rs 1,300 crore, followed by 26-year-old Shasvat Nakrani of BharatPe, also with Rs 1,300 crore.

Notable mentions include OYO's Ritesh Agarwal, 30, with a net worth of Rs 1,900 crore, and Alakh Pandey, 32, of Physics Wallah, who boasts Rs 4,500 crore in wealth.

Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, both 33 and co-founders of Razorpay, are the richest among the 'Hurun India Rich List - Youngest' category, with each having a net worth of Rs 8,700 crore.

"These individuals are driving change across various industries, reflecting the growing impact of India's youth in business," stated the report.

This year's list includes 52 entrepreneurs who are founders of 29 unicorns and two founders of gazelles, defined as companies most likely to achieve unicorn status within two years.

The cumulative wealth of the Indian unicorn and gazelle listers on the rich list saw a 5% increase, reaching Rs 2.85 lakh crore.

India's billionaire count has reached 334, with Gautam Adani and family leading the list, showing a 95% growth in wealth to Rs 11.6 lakh crore, followed by Mukesh Ambani and family with Rs 10.14 lakh crore, Shiv Nadar and family with Rs 3.14 lakh crore, Cyrus S Poonawalla and family with Rs 2.89 lakh crore, and Dilip Sanghvi of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries with Rs 2.49 lakh crore.

"India is emerging as Asia's wealth creation engine! While China saw a 25% decline in its number of billionaires, India experienced a 29% increase, reaching a record 334 billionaires," said Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.

The list identified 1,539 individuals across 134 cities with a net worth of Rs 1,000 crore, with cumulative wealth jumping by 46%. Among these, 1,334 individuals saw their wealth increase or stay the same, with 272 being new entrants, while 205 recorded a decrease in their wealth. The report noted that India minted a new billionaire every five days last year.

In terms of sectors, industrial products topped the list with 142 individuals, followed by pharmaceuticals with 136 individuals. Other top sectors included chemicals, software, and real estate, with 127, 105, and 91 rich individuals, respectively.

"The pivot in the Indian economy from a services-led to a manufacturing-led model is reflected in the 2024 Hurun India Rich List. Industrial products sector entrepreneurs on the list have seen a remarkable 47% CAGR in their cumulative wealth over the past five years-the highest among all sectors," Junaid said.

This shift, he added, is driven by several factors, including the central government's significant increase in capital expenditure on infrastructure development, which rose to $133.3 billion for FY2024-25, marking an 11.1% increase from the previous year.

"Additionally, India attracted substantial foreign direct investment (FDI), with total inflows reaching US$17.96 billion in FY2023-24."

Mumbai led the list with 386 individuals, followed by New Delhi with 217. Bengaluru (100), Chennai (82), and Kolkata (69) were other top cities.