India’s wealthiest woman, Savitri Jindal, experienced an astounding surge in her wealth, increasing by an impressive $9.6 billion in 2023. This notable gain surpassed even industry giants such as the Ambanis and Birlas.
Mukesh Ambani, the chair of Reliance Industries (RIL) and the wealthiest individual in India with a total wealth of $92.3 billion, witnessed a comparatively modest increase of around $5 billion in 2023, as per Bloomberg Billionaires Index data.
At a net worth of $25.3 billion, Savitri Jindal, the 73-year-old widow of Om Prakash Jindal, holds the title of the fifth richest Indian and the wealthiest woman in the subcontinent. The conglomerate under her control manages listed companies like JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Energy, Jindal Saw, Jindal Stainless, and the investment company JSW Holdings.
The OP Jindal Group, where she holds an 83% stake, also owns JSW Infrastructure, a port operator that went public in October. Looking forward, the Jindals have set their sights on listing JSW Cement in 2024.
In the realm of wealth creation for 2023, HCL Tech’s Shiv Nadar secured the second spot, witnessing an impressive surge of about $8 billion, totaling approximately $32.6 billion. DLF’s realty tycoon KP Singh added another $7 billion to his wealth, reaching a total of $15.4 billion, driven by an 83% surge in DLF stock due to a real estate boom in India.
Kumar Mangalam Birla and Shapoor Mistry each saw their wealth rise by $6.3 billion during the year. Mukesh Ambani’s wealth increased by an additional $5.2 billion, and Sun Pharma MD Dilip Shanghvi’s net worth went up by another $4.7 billion.
Despite some recovery in share prices for Gautam Adani’s 10 listed group entities, he remains the sole Indian billionaire whose fortunes took a downturn in 2023. Hit by Hindenburg Research’s report accusing Adani Group of corporate malpractices, Adani faced a net drop of $35.4 billion, concluding the year with an estimated net worth of $85.1 billion by Bloomberg.
In the hierarchy of India’s richest billionaires in 2023, Mukesh Ambani maintains his position as the richest Indian and Asia’s wealthiest man, ranking 13th globally with a net worth of $92.3 billion. Adani secures the second spot in India and is 15th worldwide, with a net worth that, despite the setback, remains substantial.
Apart from Mistry, Nadar, Jindal, and Sanghvi, other notable figures on the list include Azim Premji of Wipro, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, investor and DMart founder Radhakishan Damani, KM Birla, and vaccine tycoon Cyrus Poonawalla.