PTI Mukesh Ambani, CMD of Reliance industries. With a networth of $21 billion, Mukesh Ambani has retained his title as India’s wealthiest for sixth year in a row, while the country’s 100 richest persons saw their collective wealth soar by a modest 3 per cent in a year. NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal (USD 16 billion) also continues to hold the second position, while Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi has jumped to third place with about 50 per cent surge in his wealth to $13.9 billion, pushing IT czar Azim Premji to fourth place ($13.8 billion). As per US-based business magazine Forbes’ annual list of India’s 100 richest, released on Tuesday, their total wealth grew by a modest 3 per cent from a year ago to $259 billion. “Growth in wealth was lacklustre due to India’s stumbling economy, which has been hit by inflation and a falling rupee,” Forbes said. Amid the sluggishness, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani and ArcelorMittal’s Lakshmi Mittal saw no change in their respective networths, but pharmaceutical industry titan Shanghvi managed to buck the trend with a surge of $4.7 billion in his wealth to $13.9 billion. Mr Premji’s wealth also rose by $1.6 billion, but he could not retain his third slot. Pallonji Mistry, patriarch of construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group which is the biggest shareholder in Tata Sons, has moved down one place to fifth rank with a networth of $12.5 billion. His younger son Cyrus Mistry last year succeeded Ratan Tata as new Tata group head. NRI businessmen Hinduja brothers have moved up to sixth place ($9 billion), from their 9th position last year. Shiv Nadar ($8.6 billion) have moved into top-10 at the 7th place, while Sunil Mittal has also returned to this league at 10th place ($6.6 billion). On the other hand, Essar group’s Ruia brothers and Jindal group’s Savitri Jindal have moved out from the group.
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The Hindu A file picture of Savitri Jindal, India's richest woman. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar The country’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, was Tuesday inducted as a minister in the Haryana cabinet by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This is the second time that she has become a minister in the Hooda government. She was earlier a minister of state in the 2005-09 Hooda government. Ms. Jindal is a legislator from the ruling Congress from Hisar assembly constituency and is the mother of industrial tycoon and high-profile parliament member Naveen Jindal (Lok Sabha member from Kurukshetra). She was listed by a leading business publication as the country’s richest woman as she lords over a multi-billion rupee steel and power sector empire and is the chairperson of the Jindal Group. Her name also figures in the Top-100 richest people in the world. Savitri Jindal’s industrialist-cum-politician husband O.P.Jindal, who too was a minister in the Hooda government, was killed when his private helicopter crashed near the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border March 2005. Ms. Jindal was sworn-in on Tuesday along with the other new minister, Aftab Ahmed, who is a legislator from Nuh assembly constituency in Mewat district and the only Muslim face in the Hooda ministry. Two ministerial slots in the Hooda government were vacant ever since ministers O.P.Jain and Gopal Kanda resigned in June 2011 and August 2012 respectively, after their names figured in separate criminal cases. The 90-member Haryana assembly goes to polls in October next year. Earlier this year, Ms. Jindal was directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to vacate her government accommodation, which she had been occupying unauthorised. She has been occupying a ministerial bungalow in Chandigarh’s upscale Sector 7, even though she ceased to be a minister in 2009. The court said that eviction proceedings be started if she did not vacate the house. A penalty of Rs.89 lakh was also slapped on her for occupying the house. 