Gautam Adani saw a 54 percent drop in his wealth in 2023; Polycab's Inder Jaisinghani gained a staggering 91 percent

Gautam Adani, Chairperson, Adani Group; Inder Jaisinghani, Chairman and MD of Polycab India. (Inder Jaisinghani Image: Mexy Xavier)

Gautam Adani, who rose to the top of the Forbes India Rich List last year surpassing Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, saw the biggest drop in wealth this year. Where last year Adani had a cumulative wealth of $150 billion, it dropped by 54.67 percent to become $68 billion in 2023. This change is owing to a report by US short seller Hindenburg Research in January which led to a sharp decline in his group’s stock prices. (The group firmly denied any misconduct.) Although there has been a partial recovery, his total wealth, including that of his family, plummeted by a staggering $82 billion, marking the most substantial decline both in terms of dollars and percentages. 

Consequently, he slid back to the second position.

Other billionaires who saw a sharp decrease in their wealth include Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar (rank 88) whose wealth reduced by 35.05 percent; Page Industries’ Sunder Genomal (rank 85) who saw a 24.59 percent reduction in his wealth; Radhakishan Damani (rank 5) and the Amalgamations Family (rank 83) saw a 16.67 percent and 16.47 percent decrease in their wealth respectively.  

The most substantial increase in percentage wealth this year is attributed to Inder Jaisinghani, at rank 32 with $6.4 billion. His family's total net worth almost doubled, thanks to the growth of their wires and cables company, Polycab India, which benefited from the expansion of electrification. From $3.32 billion last year, Jaisinghani’s wealth increased by a whopping 91.04 percent. Meanwhile, Ramesh and Rajeev Juneja (rank 29), witnessed a notable 64 percent surge in their wealth following the listing of their company Mankind Pharma in May. 

Other billionaires who saw a sharp increase in their wealth include stock trading platform Zerodha founder brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath (rank 40) whose wealth grew by 59.42 percent; Cadila Healthcare’s Pankaj Patel (rank 36) who saw a 59.15 percent increase in his wealth; and Baba Kalyani (rank 55), director of Kalyani Group’s flagship company Bharat Forge, who saw his wealth increase by 58.33 percent this year. 

Full list here.