Adani reclaims top spot as India’s richest; billionaire count hits record 391
Hurun India Rich List 2026: The number of people with wealth of at least Rs 1,000 crore increased by 128 from last year and by 803 over five years
Gautam Adani and family have reclaimed the top spot on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026, overtaking Mukesh Ambani and family as India’s richest, even as the country’s billionaire count reached a record 391.
Adani’s wealth rose 13 per cent to Rs 9.23 lakh crore ($96 billion), according to the 15th edition of the list released on Wednesday (September 23). Ambani’s wealth declined 10 per cent to Rs 8.63 lakh crore ($90 billion), leaving Adani ahead by Rs 59,400 crore.
The latest list, which captures wealth as of August 24, shows the fortunes of India’s richest continuing to expand despite a weaker stock market. The combined wealth of the 1,810 individuals on the list rose 12.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 187.5 lakh crore ($1.96 trillion), equivalent to nearly half of India’s GDP.
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The number of people with wealth of at least Rs 1,000 crore increased by 128 from last year and by 803 over five years. India now has 391 dollar billionaires, 27 more than a year ago.
Adani back on top
The biggest change at the top came from LN Mittal and family, whose wealth surged 93 per cent to Rs 3.39 lakh crore, lifting them to third place from outside the top 10. The ArcelorMittal founder recorded the largest absolute increase in wealth on the list, adding Rs 1.64 lakh crore.
Cyrus S Poonawalla and family retained fourth place with Rs 3.03 lakh crore, while Roshni Nadar Malhotra and family slipped two places to fifth with Rs 2.79 lakh crore. She remains India’s richest woman.
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Kumar Mangalam Birla and family ranked sixth at Rs 2.69 lakh crore, followed by Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi at Rs 2.65 lakh crore. Azim Premji and family stood eighth at Rs 2.63 lakh crore. Vedanta Resources’ Anil Agarwal and family jumped 87 per cent to Rs 2.08 lakh crore, entering the top 10 at ninth. Samir Mehta and family of Torrent Pharmaceuticals rounded off the top 10 at Rs 1.89 lakh crore after a 52 per cent increase.
AI creates new fortunes
The list also points to a changing composition of Indian wealth, with artificial intelligence emerging as a distinct wealth-creation sector for the first time. Nineteen individuals associated with AI feature on the list with combined wealth of Rs 3.07 lakh crore. Fifteen are new entrants.
Hurun said the average wealth of a new AI entrant was about Rs 12,100 crore, nearly five times that of a new entrant from industrial products. The AI cohort includes entrepreneurs associated with data centres, semiconductors, AI models and applications.
The broader deep-tech segment is expanding too. Artificial intelligence, aerospace and defence, and semiconductors together account for 48 listers with wealth of Rs 4.26 lakh crore. Thirty of them are new entrants.
Nagendra Nagaraja of Bengaluru-based QpiAI made history as the first quantum-computing entrant on the list, with wealth of Rs 1,700 crore. Pawan Kumar Chandana of Skyroot Aerospace also entered through the space-launch business.
Manufacturing still leads
Manufacturing, however, remains the largest source of new wealth by numbers. Industrial Products has 166 entrants, followed by Chemicals with 142 and Pharmaceuticals with 136. Industrial Products also added the most new entrants during the year, at 44.
The report highlights a sharp divergence across sectors. On a like-for-like basis, wealth in aerospace and defence rose 69 per cent, while green energy and industrial products grew 31 per cent each. Metals and mining rose 30 per cent, pharmaceuticals 25 per cent and financial services 23 per cent.
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Consumer-facing sectors, meanwhile, recorded declines. Wealth in consumer durables fell 21 per cent, food and beverages 9 per cent, consumer goods 8 per cent and retail 5 per cent, according to Hurun.
Wealth hub
The geography of wealth is also widening. Mumbai remains the largest hub, with 465 listers, followed by New Delhi with 236 and Bengaluru with 129. Hyderabad has 114 and Chennai 96.
Mumbai is home to Rs 53.21 lakh crore of wealth represented on the list, along with 93 billionaires. New Delhi follows with Rs 26.83 lakh crore and 68 billionaires. Ahmedabad ranks third by total wealth at Rs 15.67 lakh crore, despite having only 13 billionaires.
Maharashtra leads the states with 552 listers, followed by Delhi with 236 and Gujarat with 153. Karnataka, with 140, moved above Tamil Nadu, which has 132.
Wealth goes global
The list also reflects the growing international footprint of Indian wealth. As many as 156 listers now reside outside India, compared with 101 last year. The US accounts for 90 and the UAE for 31.
Among the youngest names are Zepto co-founders Kaivalya Vohra, 23, and Aadit Palicha, 24. AI founders Tanay Kothari and Sahaj Garg, both 28, entered with Rs 4,200 crore each through Wispr Flow. Perplexity co-founder Aravind Srinivas, 32, has wealth of Rs 28,500 crore.
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Aditya Kumar Halwasiya of Cupid emerged as the fastest wealth creator, with his fortune jumping 859 per cent to Rs 18,800 crore. He also recorded the largest rank gain, climbing 939 places to 193rd.
Self-made wealth
The report said 1,266 individuals, or 70 per cent of the list, are self-made entrepreneurs. Their combined wealth stands at Rs 116.34 lakh crore, or 62 per cent of the total wealth represented.
At the other end of the spectrum, wealth remains heavily concentrated. The 23 individuals worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore account for 28.9 per cent of the total wealth on the list, while 1,157 people in the Rs 1,000-5,000 crore band account for 14.2 per cent.
Hurun said the threshold for entering the top 10 has risen sharply over the past decade. It now stands at Rs 1.89 lakh crore, compared with Rs 30,800 crore in 2012. The top 100 threshold has risen from Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 33,000 crore.
Rupee reshapes billionaire count
The report also highlighted the impact of the rupee’s depreciation on the dollar-billionaire count. At the 2014 exchange rate of Rs 61.01 to the dollar, 559 people on this year’s list would qualify as dollar billionaires, compared with 391 at the current rate of Rs 95.63.
Hurun said the findings show a broadening of India’s wealth-creation base, with manufacturing, technology, green energy, defence and AI increasingly joining traditional sectors such as pharmaceuticals, metals and financial services.