Mukesh Ambani Tops Forbes’ India Rich List of 101 Billionaires

File photo of Mukesh Ambani. (Photo: Reuters)

India is home to 101 billionaires, the fourth-highest in the world, with Reliance Industries chief, Mukesh Ambani leading the club, according to a new list released by Forbes magazine.

The Forbes list of the 'World's Billionaires' 2017 ranks 2,043 of the world’s richest people, who have a combined net worth of USD 7.67 trillion – a record 18 percent increase over the past year.

Ambani leads the pack of 101 Indian billionaires, coming in at the 33rd spot on the global list, with a net worth of USD 23.2 billion.

Forbes said the "oil and gas tycoon" sparked a price war in India's hyper-competitive telecom market with the launch of Jio in September 2016.

Next on the list of Indian billionaires is ArcelorMittal chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal on the 56th spot with a net worth of USD 16.4 billion.

The list includes only four women billionaires from India, led by Savitri Jindal and her family at the 303rd position, with a net worth of USD 5.2 billion.

Smita Crishna-Godrej from the Godrej clan is ranked 814th, followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw at 973 and USV India chair Leena Tewari at 1,030.

Founder of mobile wallet Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, is ranked 1,567, with his net worth of USD 1.3 billion.

Forbes said Paytm was "one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government's decision to demonetise 86 percent of India's rupees and move to a cashless economy", notching up 200 million registered users and five million transactions daily.

The other Indians on the list are:

• Azim Premji, Wipro (72)
• Gautam Adani, Adani Group (250)
• NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys (1161)
• Vivek Chand Burman, Dabur (1290)
• Nandan Nilekani, Infosys (1290)
• Rana Kapoor, Yes Bank (1795)

Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, has topped the list for the fourth year in a row.

(With inputs from PTI)