The Top 10 Richest Indians in 2013

Oct 29, 2013, 06:58 IST2 min

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6. Hinduja Brothers ($9 billion)Four brothers, Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok, together control the Hinduja Group, a multinational conglomerate with a presence in 37 countries and businesses as diverse as trucks and lubricants to banking and healthcare. In India, they are best known for IndusInd Bank and truckmaker Ashok Leyland. Lubricants arm Gulf Oil, which bought U.S.-based Houghton International for just over $1 billion last year, is preparing to list the combined unit. They recently sold a 49% stake in Saudi-based lubricants maker Petromin for over $300 million. Brothers bought and restored the 67,000 sq. foot Carlton House Terrace, a heritage mansion in London, which sits on the site of a former palace near Buckingham Palace now valued at an estimated $500 million.

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7. Shiv Nadar($8.6 billion) Fortune up $3 billion for Shiv Nadar, cofounder of $6.3 billion (revenues) HCL Group, as shares of his software flagship HCL Technologies rose 80% from a year ago, helped in part by weak rupee, higher earnings and new clients. Among its notable customers are Boeing, Microsoft, Cisco and UBS. Nadar, who has not been involved in running the operations of the company for several years preferring instead to focus on strategy for the group and philanthropy, moves into top 10 for first time since 2004. Daughter Roshni,who is CEO of holding outfit HCL Corporation, was appointed to HCL Tech’s board in July as a nonexecutive director.

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8. Adi Godrej ($8.3 billion)Adi Godrej is head of family that controls 116-year-old Godrej Group, a $3.8 billion (revenues) consumer goods conglomerate. Its portfolio covers everything from mosquito repellants and hair dyes to refrigerators. Godrej often says listed real estate arm Godrej Properties, run by son Pirojsha, could be group’s biggest business in a decade. Meantime, its Godrej Consumer is eyeing acquisitions in Africa, where it employs 10,000 people. In December Singapore’s Temasek invested $100 million for a 20% stake in its agribusiness arm. Four relatives share fortune.

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9. Kumar Birla ($7.6 billion)Undeterred by India’s slowing economy, Kumar Birla’s $40 billion (sales) commodities conglomerate Aditya Birla Group is continuing to expand at home. In September, its cement arm UltraTech inked a $600 million deal to buy a rival unit the combined group is now country’s largest cement producer. In October he was named by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a corruption scandal linked to the allocation of coal mines to his aluminum maker Hindalco in 2005. He denied the allegation, calling the charge “preposterous.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh backed Birla, saying he had approved the allocation.

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10. Sunil Mittal ($6.6 billion)After a long downward spell, shares of Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel which has 275 million customers worldwide, perked up when it reported higher revenues per user in last quarter. In June it sold a 5% stake for $1.2 billion to the investment arm of the state-owned Qatar Foundation. Company faced hitch when federal auditor recommended that Bharti along with other firms be fined for allegedly using 3G spectrum that they didn’t own. In April, Mittal appeared in court in another case involving granting of additional telecom spectrum. Both cases are ongoing. Mittal was also was in the news for breaking off with Wal-Mart, his partner in a six-year old joint venture that was troubled by allegations of wrongdoing. The U.S. retailer will acquire his stake in the wholesale business while he will continue to own a separate chain of grocery stores, run by brother Rajan.

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