With the rise and race between the rich, India has reported a barrage of billionaires this year as over 1,000 people living in the country are now have a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore each. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani remains in a top, with no trouble, as the country's richest man while the Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani follows Ambani in the list. 

The report released by the Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023 had revealed that for the first time, the number of Indians with a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore had crossed the 1,300 mark in 2023. Business Standard  quoted the report stating that the country has 1,319 people who have worth more than Rs 1,000 crore as the country has added 216 more billionaires than the 1,103 recorded last year. 

With a total wealth of Rs 8.08 lakh crore in 2023, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani retained the prestigious title as the richest person in India. As per the report, Mukesh Ambani's wealth increased two per cent over the year. Last year, Adani Group Gautam Adani had topped the table as India's richest person, however, his fortune had sharpily plunged in the wake of Hindenberg Research report that accused Adani of commiting irregularities in shares. 

Unprecedently, the fortune of Adani, who is spelled to close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had plunged by 57 per cent to Rs 4.74 lakh crore. It is pertinent to note that in 2022, Adani was leading Ambani at a wealthy margin of Rs 3 lakh crore. However, Mukesh Ambani had surpassed Adani's fortune this year with a margin of Rs 3.3 lakh crore. On the decline of Adani's wealth, the Hurun Rich India report said, "This represents the most substantial annual wealth decline ever recorded for an individual since the inception of the Hurun India Rich List." 

Though Adani suffered a loss of a significant portion of his wealth owing to the explosive Hindenburg report, he remains a top gainer among the richest Indians over the past five years as the Hurun India report said that Adani's wealth has multiplied fivefold from Rs 94,000 crore in 2019. On the global list, Mukesh Ambani is the 13th richest person in the world while Gautam Adani stands at the 24th spot. 

On the other hand, eight of the top 10 Indian billionaires on the current list had reported a surge in their wealth in 2023, while two others had witnessed a downfall. Those two are - Gautam Adani and DMart founder Radhakrishan Damani, whose fortune declined by 18 per cent to Rs 1.43 lakh crore. In the top ten list after Ambani and Adani are Cyrus Poonawalla, the head of Serum Institute of India - with Rs 2.78 lakh crore, HCL's Shiv Nadar with Rs 2.28 lakh crore. 

Gopichand Hinduja of Hinduja Group ranked fifth with a net worth of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, followed by Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi with Rs 1.6 lakh crore, Arcelor Mittal's Lakshmi Mittal with Rs 1.6 lakh crore, DMart's Radhakrishan Damani with Rs 1.4 lakh crore, Birla's Kumar Mangalam Birla with Rs 1.2 lakh crore, and Bajaj Group's Director Niraj Bajaj with Rs 1.2 lakh crore. 

On the front of richest woman, Radha Vembu of Zoho, who is ranked 40th on the list of Indian billionaires, has become the richest self-made Indian woman. Her net worh stands at Rs 36,000 crore, 18 per cent increase than the last year. Mumbai has become the home to the highest number of Indian billionaires as 328 of a total of 1,319 billionaires reside in the city, followed by New Delhi with 199 and Bengaluru with 100.