The number of billionaires in India is growing — from 109 in 2014 to 334 this year. According to the Hurun Rich List 2024, the country is seeing a rise in wealth creation at a rapid pace, with the total worth of the super-rich amounting to an estimated Rs 159 lakh crore, surpassing the combined GDP of Saudi Arabia and Switzerlandread more
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 "1 billionaire in every 5 days: How India is becoming richer (1)")
Actor and Kolkata Knight Riders’ co-owner Shah Rukh Khan found himself on the Hurun Rich List for the first time. File image/PTI
India’s Richie Rich list is growing at an astronomical pace! As per the Hurun Rich List 2024, India is now home to 334 billionaires and their total worth is Rs 159 lakh crore — surpassing the combined GDP of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland and accounting for more than half of India’s GDP.
The Hurun Rich List 2024 also revealed that India’s financial capital, Mumbai, has emerged as the “billionaire capital of Asia” with more billionaires than China’s capital Beijing.
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The report also reveals an interesting trend — India is creating wealth at a time when other nations are seeing a decline. Interestingly, China saw a 25 per cent decline in its number of billionaires, while India experienced a 29 per cent increase.
Here’s how India is becoming richer and much, much more.
India’s many Richie Riches
As per the Hurun Rich List 2024, India is now home to 334 billionaires, rising by 29 per cent from the previous year.
The report reveals that India’s billionaire count has been steadily rising — in 2014, there were 109 billionaires, which went up to 259 in 2023. The Hurun Rich List 2024 further revealed that India minted a new billionaire every five days.
Anas Rahman Junaid, founder and chief researcher, Hurun India, said: “India continues to score Gold in the ‘Wealth Creation Olympics’. The number of billionaires in 2024 Hurun India Rich List hits triple century, with all the top 20 sectors adding new faces to the list! The top 20 sectors all added new faces, showcasing the unstoppable spirit of Indian entrepreneurs as they drive growth across the board.”
From an industry overview, real estate and industrial products added the most significant number of new entrants to the list, the former contributing 142 billionaires. Additionally, 64 per cent of the new entrants this year are self-made individuals.
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New, young entrants on the list
The Hurun Rich List 2024 saw the inclusion of several regulars as well as some new names.
New entrants on the list include Shah Rukh Khan as well as Zepto founders Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha. At 21, Vohra is the youngest on the list followed by his co-founder, the 22-year-old Palicha. Vohra and Palicha were students of Stanford University, when they dropped out of their computer science course and pursued entrepreneurship. Both friends started Zepto in 2021 amid the COVID pandemic, with an aim to fulfil the demand for quick and contactless delivery of essential goods.
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At the age of 58, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan entered the list with a wealth of Rs 7,300 crore, powered by his stakes in IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders and film production company Red Chillies Entertainment.
Juhi Chawla, a Bollywood actor and the co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, also found herself on the Hurun Rich List, boasting of Rs 4,600 crore wealth.
Founders of payment solutions app Razorpay, Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, also found their way on the rich list. The two of them have an estimated net worth of Rs 8,700 crores, which is approximately $1.03 billion.
Mumbai is the place for billionaires
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The Hurun Rich List also revealed that Mumbai has emerged as the “billionaire capital of Asia” with more billionaires than China’s capital Beijing. The report stated that India’s financial capital is now home to 92 billionaires compared to Beijing’s count of 91. Additionally, Mumbai added 26 new ultra-rich individuals having a total wealth of $445 billion to the club in the same time when China’s capital city lost 18.
Delhi followed Mumbai with the most billionaires to gain the second spot. Hyderabad surpassed Bengaluru for the first time to take the third position in the number of wealthy residents. Other cities in the top 10 are Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, and Gurugram.
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Factors contributing to India’s wealth creation
But, what is the reason behind India’s rich becoming wealthier? Experts note that a new generation of entrepreneurs is responsible for the explosive growth in private wealth in India. As well as the large number of entrepreneurs, India’s competitive wages and an English-speaking population is also the reason for India’s economic rise.
Domestic economic reforms are also credited for the rise in the number of wealthy people in the country. As The Guardian notes, starting slowly in the 1980s, and then more dramatically against the backdrop of a wrenching financial crisis in 1991, India dismantled the dusty stockade of rules and tariffs that made up the Licence Raj. Companies that had been cosseted under the old regime were cleared out via a mix of deregulation, foreign investment and heightened competition. In sector after sector, from airlines and banks to steel and telecoms, the ranks of India’s tycoons began to swell.
However, the high growth in India’s wealth is not proportionate. A previous World Inequality Lab report has revealed that the wealth concentrated in the richest one per cent of India’s population is at its highest in six decades and the percentage share of income exceeds that of countries including Brazil and the United States.
By the end of 2023, India’s richest citizens owned 40.1 per cent of the country’s wealth, the highest since 1961, and their share of total income was 22.6 per cent, the most since 1922, said the study.
Moreover, many of India’s rich are also leaving the country in large numbers. Australia, the US, and Canada have become the favourite new homes for rich people from around the world.
With inputs from agencies
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