With so many Indians in positions of prosperity, it is no wonder that the country has some of the wealthiest people in the world. Most of these billionaires are self-made entrepreneurs who started their businesses, while others inherited their wealth.
No matter how they attained their riches, these influential businessmen and philanthropists share one thing in common: They've all contributed to India's economic growth by employing thousands of people and making billions for themselves.
We'll start with the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani.
Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, an Indian business tycoon, chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, one of India's largest private-sector conglomerates.
Ambani had a humble beginning- he started working in his father's textile company at age 12. He quit college at 18 to work full-time and soon after had set up his own import business called 'Reliance Industries.' He also heads the world's biggest refining company in Jamnagar in Mumbai, with annual revenues of more than $100 billion (£78 billion).
Mukesh is known for his work ethic and has created an empire worth over $29 billion. His success has made him one of the wealthiest people on earth, with a net worth of 88.9 billion dollars.
Gautam Adani
Gautam Adani is the founder and Chairman of the Adani Group. He is also the founder of Adani Ports, Coal & Special Economic Zone Ltd. This company has become the largest port operator in India and one of India's leading exporters. The group is currently building a coal mine in Australia, one of the world's biggest coal mines.
Gautam Adani has been named an "honorary member" by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. His net worth is 75.3 billion USD.
Shiv Nadar
Shiv Nadar is an Indian businessman, philanthropist, and the founder of HCL. He has been on Forbes's World's Billionaires list since 1996.
Nadar founded HCL in 1976 with a capital investment of Rs.15 Lakh. Today, HCL is India's 3rd largest IT company, with an annual turnover of more than US$7 Billion.
He has also founded the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which focuses on improving education for children in rural India through local community involvement and sustainable innovations. His net worth is 22.5 billion USD.
Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Mittal is a billionaire Indian steel tycoon and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He is the chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaking company. The company was formed in 2006 from the takeover of Arcelor by Mittal Steel Company and Mittal Investments.
In a 2005 ranking of billionaires, he ranked number 1 on Forbes' list as the richest man in the world, with a fortune estimated at US$36 billion. Lakshmi's net worth has been shrinking since 2008 due to lower global demand for steel. His net worth is 18.3 billion USD.
Radhakishan Damani
Radhakishan Damani is an Indian businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the DMart chain of stores in India.
After graduating from Bombay University with a degree in commerce, he spent years working for his father's textile company before venturing out on his own. In 2007, he founded the DMart chain of stores, which has become the largest retailer in India with over 230 outlets. In 2015, he was named one of "Asia's 25 Most Powerful People" by Fortune magazine.
The best business leaders understand that they must do more than make money for their company. It is essential to be a good corporate citizen and contribute to the public good. Leading a company's responsibility means making a profit and doing your part to help society as a whole. Radhakishan Damani understands this better than anyone. As a result of his philanthropy, he has been named one of India's top five most generous philanthropists by Forbes India. His current net worth is 15.4 billion USD.
Pallonji Mistry
Pallonji Mistry is one of the wealthiest Indians in the world. He was born in 1929 and is from a Parsi family. His father migrated from Iran to India during the time of British rule. In 1970, Pallonji became chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co., a construction company his grandfather founded.
Pallonji Mistry has been married three times and has three children from these marriages. He has a degree in engineering from Imperial College London and a degree in management from Harvard University.
According to Wikipedia estimated his net worth at $15 billion.
Hinduja brothers
The Mumbai-based Hinduja Group is one of India's leading conglomerates in the finance, Infrastructure, Technology, Media, and entertainment sectors.
It has over 33,000 employees with an annual turnover of about $14.5 billion in 2017. The company was founded by the three Hinduja brothers Srichand, Gopichand, and Prakashchand Hinduja, with $6,000 (₹4 lakh) that they had borrowed from their father in 1944. Today, they are among the wealthiest business families in Asia. Their net worth is 14.4 billion USD.
Uday Kotak
Uday Kotak is a man of many talents. He's an economist, a banker, and was a financial advisor to the prime minister of India. He also runs Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. By the age of 32, he had brought about many changes in Indian banking.
He was born into a family of bankers. His father, Harshad, was one of the first people to start an Indian bank with foreign capital. Uday studied economics at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, where he graduated with honors and won several prestigious scholarships on the way. After his degree, he attended Harvard University on scholarship and got his master's in business administration at Boston University School of Management. His net worth is 14.4 billion USD.
Savitri Jindal
Savitri Jindal is a philanthropist and social activist who co-founded the JSW Group. Savitri was born to Ramgopal and Jivabhai in a Gujarati family of traders and farmers. She studied at an all-girls boarding school and completed her bachelor's degree from Mumbai University. Savitri married O.P. Jindal in 1970, and she continues to manage the family business alongside his son Naveen Jindal.
The JSW group has been instrumental in spearheading significant industrial growth, such as steel plants, power plants, oil refineries, ports, telecom towers, and steel plants. It is now one of the largest conglomerates in India, with annual revenues of USD 3 billion, and Its net worth is 14.2 billion.
Cyrus Poonawalla
Cyrus Poonawalla owns Serum Institute of India, which manufactures vaccines and provides medical support to developing countries. He is an honorary professor at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Oxford in the UK. He is a successful entrepreneur who has lived an extraordinary life, starting his company in 1978 with just ₹20.
Poonawalla's company provides low-cost vaccines to more than 130 countries, supplying polio vaccines to 60% of children worldwide in 2012. As a result, polio was eliminated in India in 2014, paving the way for its eradication worldwide.
Poonawalla has given back to his country by building hospitals and creating jobs for people living. His net worth is 13.3 billion USD.
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