Seven UAE NRIs in India’s 100 super-rich list
dubai — Reaffirming its status as a preferred hub of the world’s wealthiest, the UAE is once again in the spotlight as home to seven billionaire non-resident Indian tycoons who figured in Forbes’ annual Rich List of 100 super-rich Indians released on Thursday.
The 2017 list, topped for the 10th consecutive time by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $38 billion, shows that the combined net worth of India’s 100 wealthiest stood at $479 billion, a rise of 26 per cent from $374 billion in 2016. “This was partially because the stock market continued to rise amid hopes that an economic turnaround will be under way soon,” analysts said.
UAE residents in the 100 super rich include Emke Group head Yusufali M.A. who ranks as the 27th-richest individual in India with an estimated wealth of $5 billion, followed by Micky Jagtiani of Landmark Group (32nd, $4.3 billion), B.R. Shetty of NMC Group (34th, $3.9 billion), Ravi Pillai of RP Group (35th, $3.8 billion), Sunny Varkey of Gems Group (65th, $2.4 billion), Sunil Vaswani of Stallion Group (69th, $2.25 billion) and Shamsheer Vayalil of VPS Healthcare (94th, $1.57 billion).
The latest report by Forbes reaffirms the eminence of the UAE as a sought-after destination for the world’s high net worth individuals as well as the most favoUrite migration hub for super-rich NRIS.
Last week, a leading authority on India’s private wealth, Hurun Report, said with 14 wealthy NRIs, the UAE is the most preferred destination for immigration, followed by 10 in the UK and eight in the US.
“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,” Naazneen Karmali, India editor of Forbes Asia, said.
Ambani added $15.3 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.”
Another big gainer was tech tycoon Azim Premji with a net worth of $19 billion; he jumped two places to No.2 this year after adding $4 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,” the magazine said.
The Hinduja brothers (third, $18.4 billion) added $3.2 billion to their net worth.
Others in the top 10 are Lakshmi Mittal (fourth, $16.5 billion), Pallonji Mistry (fifth, $16 billion), the Godrej family (sixth, $14.2 billion), Shiv Nadar; (seventh, $13.6 billion), Kumar Birla (eighth, $12.6 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (ninth, $12.1 billion), and Gautam Adani (10th, $ 11 billion).
More than four-fifths of those who kept their spot on the list from last year saw their wealth rise, with 27 people in the list adding $1 billion or more to their networth. Among them is Birla of Aditya Birla Group, who oversaw the merger between his telecom company Idea Cellular with Vodafone India. Auto parts tycoon Vivek Chaand Sehgal (23rd, $5.85 billion), added $2.25 billion to his wealth after his Motherson Sumi Systems acquired Finnish truck-parts maker PKC Group for $620 million in March.
“The richest newcomer is cookies-and-airline tycoon Nusli Wadia [25th, $5.6 billion]. Among the five other new entrants to the list are Dinesh Nandwana [88th, $1.72 billion] of e-governance services firm Vakrangee; Vijay Shekhar Sharma [99th, $1.47 billion] of fast-rising mobile wallet Paytm; and Rana Kapoor [100th, $1.46 billion] of Yes Bank, India’s fifthlargest bank in the private sector,” Forbes said.