The 15 richest Indians in the world (2025): The Ambanis, the Adanis, and the names you don't know
The richest Indian in the world is Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, with a net worth of $105 billion according to the 2025 Forbes India Rich List — more than double the fortune of the #3 entry and a figure that has kept him at the summit of Indian wealth for 14 consecutive years. Gautam Adani trails at #2 with $92 billion, but the names below them — a steel matriarch, a vaccine king, a reclusive retail genius — are the ones most people can't place.
Source: UGC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Key takeaways
- 15 richest Indians in the world
- 15. Sudhir & Samir Mehta ($14.1 billion)
- 14. Uday Kotak ($14.6 billion)
- 13. Kushal Pal Singh ($16.7 billion)
- 12. Lakshmi Mittal ($20 billion)
- 11. Hinduja Family ($20.6 billion)
- 10. Kumar Mangalam Birla ($20.7 billion)
- 9. Cyrus Poonawalla ($21.4 billion)
- 8. Bajaj Family ($21.8 billion)
- 7. Dilip Shanghvi ($26.3 billion)
- 6. Radhakishan Damani ($28.2 billion)
- 5. Shiv Nadar ($33.2 billion)
- 4. Sunil Mittal ($34.2 billion)
- 3. Savitri Jindal ($40.2 billion)
- 2. Gautam Adani ($92 billion)
- 1. Mukesh Ambani ($105 billion)
- FAQs
Key takeaways
- #1: Mukesh Ambani — $105 billion, richest Indian for 14 straight years
- #2: Gautam Adani & family — $92 billion, the infrastructure king who bounced back from a $150B market wipeout.
- Range: $105 billion (Ambani) down to $14.1 billion (Sudhir & Samir Mehta) — a span that underscores how stratified even India's elite are
- Richest woman on this list: Savitri Jindal — $40.2 billion, the steel matriarch who inherited an empire and grew it.
- India now has 284 billionaires according to Forbes, the third-highest tally in the world, after the US and China.
15 richest Indians in the world
Our rankings are based on the 2025 Forbes India Rich List (published October 2025), cross-referenced with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025. Net worth figures reflect stock prices and exchange rates as of September 19, 2025, per Forbes methodology. We use the most up-to-date figures available at time of publishing. The list is ordered from lowest (#15) to highest (#1), with the richest Indian revealed at the end.
Rank | Name | Net Worth (2025) | Source of Wealth | Industry |
15 | Sudhir & Samir Mehta | $14.1B | Torrent Group | Healthcare / Energy |
14 | Uday Kotak | $14.6B | Kotak Mahindra Bank | Finance |
13 | Kushal Pal Singh | $16.7B | DLF Group | Real Estate |
12 | Lakshmi Mittal | $20B | ArcelorMittal | Metals & Mining |
11 | Hinduja Family | $20.6B | Hinduja Group | Diversified |
10 | Kumar Mangalam Birla | $20.7B | Aditya Birla Group | Diversified |
9 | Cyrus Poonawalla | $21.4B | Serum Institute of India | Healthcare |
8 | Bajaj Family | $21.8B | Bajaj Group | Diversified |
7 | Dilip Shanghvi | $26.3B | Sun Pharma | Healthcare |
6 | Radhakishan Damani | $28.2B | Avenue Supermarts (DMart) | Retail |
5 | Shiv Nadar | $33.2B | HCL Technologies | Technology |
4 | Sunil Mittal | $34.2B | Bharti Airtel | Telecom |
3 | Savitri Jindal | $40.2B | OP Jindal Group | Metals & Mining |
2 | Gautam Adani | $92B | Adani Group | Infrastructure |
1 | Mukesh Ambani | $105B | Reliance Industries | Diversified |
15. Sudhir & Samir Mehta ($14.1 billion)
Source: Twitter
- Full names: Sudhir Mehta and Samir Mehta
- Nationality: Indian
- Affiliation: Torrent Group (Torrent Power & Torrent Pharmaceuticals)
- Net worth: $14.1 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
The Mehta brothers co-helm the Torrent Group, the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate that spans two major publicly listed businesses: Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Torrent Power. At #15 on Forbes India's 2025 list, the Mehta family fortune stands at $14.1 billion.
Torrent Pharmaceuticals is one of India's top generic drug exporters, with a strong presence in the US and EU markets, while Torrent Power operates significant electricity distribution networks across Gujarat and other states. The brothers have largely stayed out of the media spotlight, making theirs one of the most underappreciated billion-dollar empires in India.
14. Uday Kotak ($14.6 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Uday Suresh Kotak
- Date of birth: 15 March 1959
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Banker / Entrepreneur
- Affiliation: Kotak Mahindra Bank
- Net worth: $14.6 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Uday Kotak is a veteran banker who built Kotak Mahindra from a small finance company into a broad financial services platform spanning banking, investment, and insurance — an entrepreneurial approach that is widely studied in business schools. He stepped down as CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2023 but retained a substantial founding stake that anchors his fortune.
Though no longer CEO, Kotak's stake in his namesake bank keeps his fortune steady; conservative lending, a digital pivot, and cautious expansion have made Kotak Mahindra one of India's most trusted banks.
13. Kushal Pal Singh ($16.7 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Kushal Pal Singh
- Date of birth: 15 August 1931
- Age: 93 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Real Estate Developer
- Affiliation: DLF Limited
- Net worth: $16.7 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
At 93, K.P. Singh is the oldest billionaire on this list and arguably the architect of modern Indian real estate. As chairman emeritus of DLF Limited, he transformed what was once a small Delhi-based developer into India's largest publicly listed real estate company, building entire townships like DLF City in Gurugram.
Singh joined DLF in 1960 and listed the company on Indian stock exchanges in 2007, creating one of the most lucrative IPOs in Indian history. His legacy is stamped across the skyline of the National Capital Region.
12. Lakshmi Mittal ($20 billion)
- Full name: Lakshmi Niwas Mittal
- Date of birth: 15 June 1950
- Nationality: Indian (UK-based)
- Profession: Steel Industrialist
- Affiliation: ArcelorMittal
- Net worth: $20 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Popularly known as the "Steel magnate of India," Lakshmi Mittal is Chairman of ArcelorMittal, which is the world's second-largest steelmaking company. Based in London, Mittal built his empire by acquiring struggling steel mills globally — from Kazakhstan to the US to Europe — and turning them around through operational efficiency.
Although based globally, his steel empire includes major operations and supply chains touching India, and his decades-long leadership in global steelmaking keeps him a recurring figure on India's rich list.
11. Hinduja Family ($20.6 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Key principals: Gopichand Hinduja, Srichand Hinduja (late), Prakash Hinduja, Ashok Hinduja
- Nationality: Indian (globally spread)
- Affiliation: Hinduja Group
- Net worth: $20.6 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
The Hinduja family's conglomerate spans banking (IndusInd Bank), trucks (Ashok Leyland), media, real estate, energy, and healthcare across 38 countries. The Aditya Birla Group — much like the Hindujas — spans metals, cement, textiles, telecom, and financial services; similarly, the Hindujas oversee a complex multinational group with large manufacturing and asset-heavy businesses.
Founded by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja in the 1910s, the group is now steered by the four Hinduja brothers across different global hubs — London, Geneva, Dubai, and Mumbai — making it one of the most geographically dispersed Indian business dynasties.
10. Kumar Mangalam Birla ($20.7 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Kumar Mangalam Birla
- Date of birth: 14 June 1967
- Age: 57 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Industrialist
- Affiliation: Aditya Birla Group
- Net worth: $20.7 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Kumar Mangalam Birla has been chairman of the Aditya Birla Group since 1995, when he took over after his father's death — assuming control of one of India's oldest industrial dynasties at just 28 years old. Under his leadership, the group has grown into a $65 billion empire with operations in 40 countries.
His empire spans metals, cement, telecom, and financial services, with flagship companies including UltraTech Cement (India's largest) and Hindalco Industries. His telecom venture, Vodafone Idea, remains a challenge — but his core industrial businesses continue to generate formidable cash flow.
9. Cyrus Poonawalla ($21.4 billion)
- Full name: Cyrus S. Poonawalla
- Date of birth: 20 August 1941
- Age: 83 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Vaccine Manufacturer / Businessman
- Affiliation: Serum Institute of India
- Net worth: $21.4 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Cyrus Poonawalla is the founder of the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume — producing more than 1.5 billion doses annually. His fortune exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic when Serum partnered with AstraZeneca to manufacture the Covishield vaccine, supplying billions of doses to low- and middle-income countries.
The "vaccine billionaire" made global headlines during COVID — but even in 2025, Cyrus Poonawalla's Serum Institute is breaking new ground. His son Adar Poonawalla now manages day-to-day operations, with the family diversifying into real estate and financial services.
8. Bajaj Family ($21.8 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Key principals: Niraj Bajaj, Rajiv Bajaj, Sanjiv Bajaj
- Nationality: Indian
- Affiliation: Bajaj Group (Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv)
- Net worth: $21.8 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
The Bajaj family is one of India's oldest and most respected business dynasties, with roots stretching back to the pre-independence era when Jamnalal Bajaj was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Today the group's crown jewel is Bajaj Finance, one of India's largest consumer-lending NBFCs, which has been a staggering wealth creator over the past decade.
The standout performer in 2025 was Niraj Bajaj & family, whose wealth jumped 43% — climbing four ranks in the Hurun India Rich List. Bajaj Auto, led by Rajiv Bajaj, also returned to global prominence after entering the electric vehicle segment and expanding its premium motorcycle brand, KTM.
7. Dilip Shanghvi ($26.3 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Dilip Shanghvi
- Date of birth: 1 October 1955
- Age: 69 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Pharmaceutical Entrepreneur
- Affiliation: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
- Net worth: $26.3 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Dilip Shanghvi founded Sun Pharma, which grew into India's largest pharmaceutical company by market capitalisation, with his focus on generics and emerging markets establishing Sun Pharma as a household name worldwide. He started the company in 1983 with just five products and a ₹10,000 loan from his father.
Sun Pharma's 2014 acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories (for $3.2 billion) was a transformative deal that made the company a global generic drug powerhouse. A Padma Shri awardee, Shanghvi is one of India's richest entrepreneurs and the Managing Director of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
6. Radhakishan Damani ($28.2 billion)
- Full name: Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Investor / Retail Entrepreneur
- Affiliation: Avenue Supermarts (DMart)
- Net worth: $28.2 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani is renowned as the founder of Avenue Supermarts Limited, which runs almost 336 DMart stores in India, and is known as "India's retail king," having started his journey from Mumbai in 2002. Before retail, Damani was a feared stock market investor — a mentor, in fact, of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
While others chased flashy e-commerce, Damani stuck to physical stores — and DMart's offline-first, value-focused retail model is dominating in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. He is famously reclusive, rarely giving interviews and keeping his family entirely out of the public eye.
5. Shiv Nadar ($33.2 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Shiv Nadar
- Date of birth: 14 July 1945
- Age: 79 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Technology Entrepreneur / Philanthropist
- Affiliation: HCL Technologies
- Net worth: $33.2 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Shiv Nadar is the founder of the HCL Group and a pioneer in India's IT industry; HCL serves prestigious clients such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Boeing. He started HCL in a Delhi garage in 1976, predating India's IT revolution by nearly two decades.
HCL Technologies is riding the global wave of demand for AI services and cloud infrastructure, which has kept Nadar's fortune robust even after he stepped back from executive duties and handed the reins to his daughter, Roshni Nadar Malhotra.
The Indian government awarded Nadar the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, in 2008, in recognition of his contributions to the IT sector.
4. Sunil Mittal ($34.2 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Sunil Bharti Mittal
- Date of birth: 23 October 1957
- Age: 67 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Telecom Entrepreneur
- Affiliation: Bharti Airtel
- Net worth: $34.2 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Sunil Mittal was the biggest gainer in the 2025 Forbes India Rich List — his wealth surged by $3.5 billion to $34.2 billion, reclaiming fourth position after 17 years. He founded Bharti Airtel in 1995, and it is now one of the world's largest mobile operators, serving over 500 million customers across Africa and Asia.
Telecoms magnate Sunil Mittal was the biggest dollar gainer, his net worth — which he shares with his family — increasing by $3.5 billion to $34.2 billion, climbing three places to No. 4, a position he had last occupied in 2008. Airtel's aggressive 5G rollout and growing enterprise business have been the primary drivers of his wealth recovery.
3. Savitri Jindal ($40.2 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Savitri Devi Jindal
- Date of birth: 20 March 1950
- Age: 75 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Industrialist / Politician
- Affiliation: OP Jindal Group
- Net worth: $40.2 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Savitri Devi Jindal (born 20 March 1950) is an Indian industrialist and politician, among the richest women in India. She was married to businessman O.P. Jindal and inherited his steel business after his death on 31 March 2005.
Rather than merely preserve the empire, she expanded it — today the OP Jindal Group spans steel, power, cement, and infrastructure across India, the US, South America, Europe, and Africa.
The various divisions are managed by her four sons: Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan, and Naveen Jindal. Savitri Jindal is currently India's richest woman and one of the few female industrialists to lead a heavy-industry conglomerate at this scale anywhere in the world.
2. Gautam Adani ($92 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Gautam Shantilal Adani
- Date of birth: 24 June 1962
- Age: 63 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Industrialist / Entrepreneur
- Affiliation: Adani Group
- Net worth: $92 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025
Gautam Adani is chairman of the Ahmedabad-headquartered Adani Group, with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy, among others. The Adani Group, which began in 1988 as a commodities trading firm, expanded through acquisitions and with the support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A high school dropout, Adani spurned his father's textile shop to start his own commodities trading firm — a rags-to-riches arc that became one of India's most celebrated business stories.
The story hit turbulence in January 2023 when New York-based short seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of long-running stock manipulation and accounting fraud — allegations Adani Group rejected, but which wiped more than $150 billion off the group's market value and caused Adani's personal fortune to plunge by as much as 60%.
The recovery was remarkable: the founder and chairman of Adani Group got a reprieve in September 2025 when the securities regulator said that US short seller Hindenburg Research's allegations of fraudulent transactions could not be established. Adani now aims to build up to 10 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2035 to help secure India's energy security.
1. Mukesh Ambani ($105 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani
- Date of birth: 19 April 1957
- Age: 68 (as of July 2025)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Businessman / Industrialist
- Affiliation: Reliance Industries
- Net worth: $105 billion — Forbes India Rich List 2025 | $86.2 billion — Bloomberg Billionaires Index (July 2026)
Why are the Ambanis so rich? The answer lies in Reliance Industries — a $125 billion (revenue) conglomerate with interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, media, and financial services. Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian businessman and the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, the largest public company in India by market capitalisation in 2025.
Reliance was founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, a yarn trader, in 1966 as a small textile manufacturer. After his father's death in 2002, Ambani and his younger sibling Anil divvied up the family empire.
Mukesh got the better half — the oil refining and petrochemical business — and then multiplied it spectacularly. He directed and led the creation of the world's largest grassroots petroleum refinery in Jamnagar, India, which can produce 660,000 barrels per day.
The real acceleration came with Jio. Reliance's telecom and broadband service Jio has over 500 million subscribers, and Ambani has announced plans to list it in 2026 in what could be India's largest-ever IPO.
Ambani has also expanded Reliance into green energy — the company will be investing $80 billion over the next decade or so on renewable energy and building a new complex next to its refinery.
Ambani's three children joined the board of Reliance in 2023: son Akash heads Jio; daughter Isha oversees retail and financial services; and younger son Anant is in the energy business.
The family's personal life is equally headline-grabbing: estimates for Anant Ambani's 2024 wedding's cost range from $300 million to $600 million, and Ambani built a 27-story mansion in Mumbai that holds six residents — the 48,000-square-foot building has room for 600 servants, three rooftop helipads, parking for 168 cars, a 50-seat movie theatre, and three floors of Babylon-inspired hanging gardens.
Mukesh Ambani has been the richest Indian for 14 consecutive years — a streak that no other Indian has come close to matching.
FAQs
Why are the Ambanis so rich?
The Ambani family's wealth stems from Reliance Industries, which Mukesh Ambani inherited from his father Dhirubhai and systematically expanded. From oil to telecom to clean energy, the Reliance empire keeps adapting — in 2025, Jio's nationwide 5G, a rapidly scaling green energy arm, and a retail footprint that touches nearly every Indian household are the three pillars of the family's extraordinary wealth.
How did Gautam Adani make his money?
Gautam Shantilal Adani is an Indian billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.
The Adani Group operates in key sectors like ports, renewable and thermal energy, airports, logistics, and cement — with major companies including Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, and Ambuja Cement.
Who is India's richest woman?
Savitri Jindal of the O.P. Jindal Group remains India's richest woman, holding the third spot on the Forbes India 2025 list despite a $3.5 billion dip in her net worth to $40.2 billion. She inherited the steel and infrastructure empire after the death of her husband, O.P. Jindal, in 2005, and has since expanded it across multiple continents.
How many billionaires does India have?
As of 2025, India has 284 billionaires, which puts the country third in the world, after the United States and China. The total number of India's billionaires has crossed 350 in the Hurun count — six times more than 13 years ago — amassing a total wealth of almost half of India's total GDP.
Is Azim Premji still one of India's richest people?
Yes — Azim Premji, founder of Wipro, remains one of India's wealthiest individuals. Azim Premji & family rose one place in the Hurun India Rich List 2025 with a 16% increase in wealth, ranking 8th on that list
However, because Premji has donated vast sums to his philanthropic foundation — reportedly over $21 billion — he falls outside the Forbes top 15, which ranks current personal net worth rather than historical wealth creation.
Legit.ng also highlighted facts about the richest Jewish individuals in the world, led by Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, whose net worth has soared to an impressive $334 billion as of 2026.
This remarkable wealth is not just a figure; it represents the incredible journey of a tech visionary who, alongside his partner Sergey Brin, transformed the way we access information and communicate globally.
Source: Legit.ng
