India makes inroads in Forbes billionaire list

List is a "deceptive distraction," says Mukesh Ambani

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Adani emerged as Asia's richest newcomer to the list.

Three Indian women made it to Forbes list this year. They are Savitri Jindal of O.P. Jindal Group (ranked 110th with $8.2 billion); Indu Jain, chairperson of media firm Bennett, Coleman & Co. (ranked 236th with $4.4 billion); and Anu Aga of energy and environment management systems company Thermax Group (ranked 1014th with $1.1 billion).

The Indian names dropping out from this year's list are Keshub Mahindra of SUV maker Mahindra & Mahindra and Pradeep Jain of Parshvanath Developers.

Incidentally, the average net worth of Indian billionaires was among the highest. At $6.3 billion, it is more than that of US ($3.4 billion), Russia ($5.4 billion), China ($1.9 billion) as also the global average ($3.9 billion).

According to the 2008 list, which saw Russia, China and India making increasing inroads, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, after 13 years of reigning at the top, has conceded the title of the 'world's richest man' to bridge partner and investment guru "Oracle of Obama" Warren Buffett

Buffett, the 77-year-old chairman and CEO of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, saw his wealth jump from $52 billion last year to $62 billion while Mexico's telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu saw his wealth soar by $11 billion to $60 billion, pushing Gates to third place with $58 billion (up $2 billion from last year).

"The amazing thing about Buffett going to the top of the list is that he did it at a time when he was giving away his money," said Steve Forbes, the magazine's editor in chief.

Buffett, who announced in 2006 he was giving the majority of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saw his wealth soar mostly due to the rising value of his Berkshire Hathaway stock.

However, Forbes said Gates would have been "as rich - or richer - than Buffett" if Microsoft's stock had not slipped sharply after it made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo last month.

The 2008 list saw 1,125 people around the world making the billionaire's list, 179 more than last year. As a result, their total net worth has also soared to $4.4 trillion, up from $3.5 trillion dollars in 2007.

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