Ambani is India's richest man for 12th year in a row; Adani ranks 2nd

Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani pose for the shutterbugs at an event. Pic courtesy/AFP

New Delhi: For the 12th year in a row, Mukesh Ambani has bagged the top spot in the Forbes India Rich List 2019 with a net worth of USD 51.4 billion. Infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani jumped eight spots to come a distant second with a net worth of USD 15.7 billion. Azim Premji, who was second on the list last year, dropped to No. 17 after giving away a chunk of his wealth to charity.

Due to the economic slowdown, the total wealth of all the people on the list saw a decline of 8 per cent. "In all, 14 were poorer by USD 1 billion or more, and nine members from last year's ranks dropped off," Forbes said in its report.

Only three women (Savitri Jindal, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Leena Tewari) featured in this list. On the other hand, six newcomers appeared for the first time including the likes of Byju Raveendran ($1.9 billion) and Rajesh Mehra ($1.5 billion).

After Ambani and Adani, the next three spots were taken by Hinduja Brothers ($15.6 billion), Pallonji Mistry ($15 billion) and Uday Kotak ($14.8 billion).

The auto industry suffered and Vivek Chaand Sehgal's (who is involved with making auto parts) wealth was halved to $2.45 billion.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates