Gujarat’s wealthiest get richer

Gujarati businessmen continue to make their presence felt on the world stage.

In the Forbes Richest List, six of the seven billionaires from the state have improved their ranking, as per Forbes list of 2010 compared to 2009. Significantly, three more have grabbed places in the Forbes richest list of 2010 which includes Sudhir & Samir Mehta, Pankaj Patel and Shahid Balwa, taking the total tally of Gujaratis in the list to 10. 

Among new entrants to this exclusive club, Sudhir and Samir Mehta of Torrent Group were ranked 463rd.

Another Ahmedabad based Pharma company head, Pankaj Patel of Cadila Healthcare, stood at 655th with $1.5 billion. Shahid Balwa, MD of newly listed DB Realty, was ranked 937th with a net worth of $1 billion. 

Mukesh Ambani climbed up three places, to move fourth from seventh richest in 2009. His wealth registered a 48.7% rise in 2010 at $29 billion. Azim Premji jumped 55 places become 28th richest with a net worth of $17 billion in 2010.

Anil Ambani, whose ranking dropped two places to 36 in 2010 from 34, was the only exception among the world's wealthiest Gujarati businessmen. The younger Ambani's net worth registered a rise of 35.6% to go up to $13.7 billion in 2010-which was the slowest among Gujarati billionaires. 

Gautam Adani climbed 230 places to become 167th richest as per Forbes list in 2010. He was ranked 397th in 2009. Others who improved their ranking were Adi Godrej, who moved up 35 places,  Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma (advanced by 32 places) among others.