India has 121 billionaires -- 19 more than last year -- making them the third largest group of the ultra-rich after those from the US and China, according to Forbes, the business magazine that produces an annual list.
Mukesh Ambani, the energy and petrochemicals magnate, who keeps his standing as the richest Indian, is richer by $16.9 billion in 2018 with assets of $40.1 billion, according to the magazine's list released online on Tuesday.
He moved up to the 19th global rank on the list of 2,208 billionaires worldwide compiled by Forbes. In 2017, he ranked 33rd with $23.2 billion.
The US has 585 billionaires and China 373 this year on the Forbes tally, which it calls "The Three Comma Club" for the punctuation used in writing out fully the billion in numbers.
In 2017, there were 102 Indians on the list.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the world's richest man with assets valued at $112 billion, overtaking Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates whose fortunes are valued at $90 billion and investor Warren Buffet with $84 billion.
In 2017, Gates ranked first globally with $86 billion, Buffet second with $75.6 billion and Bezos third with $72.8 billion.
Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post newspaper, is the first person to cross the $100 billion mark in assets, Forbes said. His fortunes rose by $39.2 billion over the past year, which Forbes said is the list's biggest one-year jump ever.
Gates, who heads the world's biggest philanthropic organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has donated a lot of his assets to charities.
The software entrepreneur Azim Premji moves to the second richest Indian spot in 2018, passing Lakshmi Mittal, the international steel tycoon, according to the magazine.
Premji moved up from the 72nd global spot in 2017 with $14.9 billion, to the 58th rank with $18.8 billion this year.
Although the value of his assets have increased over the past year, Lakshmi Mittal slid to the 62nd rank on the 2018 global list and to the third spot among Indians with $18.5 billion from the 56th worldwide rank with $16.4 billion in 2017.
The richest Indian woman on the Forbes list is Savitri Jindal of the Jindal steel and power conglomerate, who ranks 176th globally on the Forbes list with $8.8 billion.
Next is the biotech entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw at 629 with $3.6 billion.
The 39-year-old financial technology entrepreneur Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who ranks 1,394th globally with $1.7 billion, is the youngest Indian on the Forbes list.
Software company HCL's founder Shiv Nadar is the fourth richest Indian on the list with $14.6 billion and is ranked 98 globally.
Sun Pharmaceuticals founder Dilip Shanghvi ranks next as the fifth riches Indian with $12.8 billion at the 115th global spot.
The Indian pharmaceutical sector has the most number of billionaires - 16.
It is followed by consumer goods with 15 billionaires, real estate with nine, and software services and diversified investments with eight each.
Nirav Modi, the jeweller who has reportedly been linked to an alleged $2 billion-fraud involving the Punjab National Bank, was not on last year's or this year's global list of billionaires, but a separate list of only Indian billionaires published by Forbes in October ranked him 85th with assets worth $1.8 billion.
Many people of the Indian diaspora also figure on the Forbes list. Construction magnate Pallonji Mistry, who is listed as Irish, is ranked 66th with $17.8 billion.
There are nine others of Indian origin with assets over $2 billion from Australia, Britain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the US.
The top Indian billionaires
Here is a list of the richest Indians on the Forbes list with assets over $8 billion. (Their global rank is shown before their names and the sector and value of assets as listed by Forbes follow their names.)
19 Mukesh Ambani ($40.1 billion, petrochemicals, oil & gas)
58 Azim Premji ($18.8 billion , software services)
62 Lakshmi Mittal ($18.5 billion, steel)
98 Shiv Nadar ($14.6 billion, software services)
115 Dilip Shanghvi ($12.8 billion, pharmaceuticals)
127 Kumar Birla ($11.8 billion, commodities)
143 Uday Kotak ($10.7 billion, banking)
151 Radhakishan Damani ($10 billion, investments, retail)
154 Gautam Adani ($9.7 billion, commodities, ports)
170 Cyrus Poonawalla ($9.1 billion, vaccines)
176 Savitri Jindal ($8.8 billion, steel)
176 Sunil Mittal ($8.8 billion, telecom)
Credit card data of 17K ICICI Bank users exposed; bank blocks cards, assures compensation
After credit card data of at least 17,000 new ICICI Bank customers was exposed and reached "wrong users", the bank said on Thursday that it has blocked these cards and is issuing new ones to the customers.
NDA rule has shown superior numbers on GDP growth, inflation, unemployment compared to UPA
The NDA rule of the last 10 years has shown superior numbers on GDP growth, inflation, CAD (Current Account Deficits), unemployment and FDI ex of pandemic year compared to the UPA regime, broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher said.
RBI crackdown triggers crash in Kotak Bank shares
The RBI had, on Wednesday evening, barred Kotak Mahindra Bank, with immediate effect, from taking on new customers and issuing fresh credit cards.
Kotak Bank promoter donated electoral bonds worth Rs 60 cr, but RBI cracks down on lender to protect customers
Infina Finance, one of the promoter group entities of Kotak Mahindra Bank which was barred by the RBI on Wednesday from onboarding new customers, had donated electoral bonds worth Rs 60 crore to the BJP.
RBI lists 6 factors powering India’s take-off to become world’s 3rd largest economy
While India’s recent growth performance has surprised many, triggering a flurry of upgrades from financial institutions such as the IMF, the RBI bulletin released on Tuesday cites six factors that will propel the country to become the world’s third-largest economy.
Sensex gains more than 300 points
BSE Sensex gained more than 300 points on Monday as geopolitical tensions eased and crude oil prices declined.
Direct tax collections shoot past budget target by Rs 1.35 lakh cr in 2023-24
The net direct tax collections, comprising corporate tax and personal income tax shot up to Rs 19.58 lakh crore in 2023-24, compared to Rs 16.64 lakh crore in the preceding financial year, representing a double-digit increase of 17.7 per cent.
Elon Musk confirms not coming to India amid crucial Tesla quarter results
Elon Musk, on Saturday, confirmed that he will not visit India this month amid crucial Tesla quarterly results and will possibly visit the country later this year to announce his investment plans.