HOME   
   NEWS   
   BUSINESS   
   CRICKET   
   SPORTS   
   MOVIES   
   NET GUIDE   
   SHOPPING   
   BLOGS  
   ASTROLOGY  
   MATCHMAKER  


Search:



The Web

Rediff









Business
Portfolio Tracker
Business News
Specials
Columns
Market Report
Mutual Funds
Interviews
Tutorials
Message Board
Stock Talk



Home > Business > Reuters > Report

Azim Premji leads seven Indians in Forbes' billionaire list

March 01, 2003 15:00 IST

Technology barons Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar are among seven Indians in U S-based business magazine Forbes' latest list of the world's 476 dollar billionaires released this week.

Premji, chairman and owner of an 84 per cent stake in Wipro Ltd, India's No 1 software services company by market value, remains the country's richest man, with an estimated worth of $5.9 billion, down from $6.4 billion in the previous list.

The overall ranking of the 57-year-old Bangalore resident, who zealously guards his privacy, dropped to 45 from 41st spot in the annual list of the world's wealthiest people.

Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, a key shareholder in the privately held firm that controls India's salt-to-software Tata industrial empire, is a first-time entry on the list. He is a 73-year-old construction magnate who also owns vast tracts of prime land in Bombay.

Industrialist Adi Godrej, whose family name is a familiar household brand in consumer goods such as soaps and locks, returned to the list after an absence.

Brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, who run the business empire of the Reliance group, the country's largest private business conglomerate, were ranked second in the list of Indian billionaires, with a combined net worth of $2.8 billion.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, the 35-year-old chairman of the Aditya Birla industrial group, maintained his third-place ranking in the Forbes list with a net worth of $2.4 billion.

India-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who controls British-based LNM Group and U S Steel, had an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion. Mittal's firms are known for turning around ailing steel companies in former communist-ruled nations.

Mistry had an estimated worth of $2 billion and Godrej $1.1 billion while Shiv Nadar, chairman of HCL Technologies, was estimated to be worth $1 billion.

© Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.



Article Tools

Email this Article

Printer-Friendly Format

Letter to the Editor



Related Stories


Premji, Ambanis are India's richest

Cheap labour woos UK firms to India



People Who Read This Also Read


The 2-minute Budget

Forex reserves up $71 million

Does the Budget miss big picture?







HOME   
   NEWS   
   BUSINESS   
   CRICKET   
   SPORTS   
   MOVIES   
   NET GUIDE   
   SHOPPING   
   BLOGS  
   ASTROLOGY  
   MATCHMAKER  
© 2003 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.