India now has more billionaires than ever before. According to the 2026 Forbes World’s Billionaires list, the country is home to 229 billionaires, up from 205 last year. A strong run in the stock market and a wave of new company listings helped boost fortunes across industries.

Together, Indian billionaires now hold more than $1 trillion in wealth, rising from $941 billion in 2025. The top 10 richest Indians alone control $368 billion, which is more than one-third of the country’s billionaire wealth, after collectively adding $32 billion over the past year.

At the top of the list, Mukesh Ambani remains the richest person in India and Asia. His wealth increased as shares of Reliance Industries climbed about 12 per cent over the past year. However, he remains slightly below the $100 billion mark, meaning he has not yet regained his centi-billionaire status from two years ago.

The second-richest Indian, Gautam Adani, also saw his fortune grow. Together, Ambani and Adani added $14.7 billion to their wealth. Both business groups are also investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), announcing plans to spend a combined $210 billion to build AI infrastructure across India.

In third place is Savitri Jindal, chairperson of the O P Jindal Group, who continues to be India’s richest woman. She leads a group of 20 Indian women billionaires featured on the list.

The biggest jump in wealth this year belongs to global steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, India’s fourth-richest person. His fortune surged after shares of ArcelorMittal, the Luxembourg-based steel giant he heads, rose over 80 per cent compared with last year. The rally came after the European Commission introduced import quotas to protect local steel producers. As a result, Mittal’s wealth grew by $11.8 billion, or 61 per cent, reaching $31 billion.

Despite this sharp rise, it is still far from his peak net worth of $45 billion in 2008, when he ranked as the fourth richest person in the world. Mittal has also shifted his base from the UK to Switzerland, joining other wealthy individuals leaving the country following new tax changes.

There is also a new entry in the top 10 richest Indians list this year. Uday Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has moved into the group after recently receiving the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honours. His entry pushes Kushal Pal Singh, the property developer behind DLF, down to the 12th position among India’s richest.

Overall, the list shows strong growth in wealth. Ninety-nine Indian billionaires increased their fortunes this year, and 30 new names have appeared on the list. Among the newcomers are several young entrepreneurs in their 30s, including Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, the 35-year-old cofounders of fintech company Razorpay. Mathur was also previously featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list.

The youngest billionaire on the list is 31-year-old Aravind Srinivas, based in San Francisco, who co-founded the AI search startup Perplexity, backed by Jeff Bezos. The company reached a $20 billion valuation in 2025.

Another new pair of billionaires is Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob, who founded the edtech platform PhysicsWallah. They joined the billionaire ranks after the company’s IPO in November, which followed the rapid growth of its online test-preparation courses. Several other entrepreneurs also entered the billionaire club after taking their companies public over the past year.

Meanwhile, a few familiar names have returned to the list. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of the payments platform Paytm, reappeared after three years off the ranking. Shares of Paytm rose about 60 per cent in the past year, though they still trade at around half of the company’s IPO price. The firm was once backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

At the same time, eight billionaires from last year’s list dropped out. Among them is Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola Cabs. His AI venture Krutrim, once promoted as India’s first AI unicorn, reportedly carried out several layoffs over the past year.

Source: Forbes’ Top 10 Richest Indian Billionaires 2026 List