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Poor, rich divide a cause of worry |
India's annual economic growth slumped to a nine-year low of 5.3 percent in the January-March quarter. Gas prices are touching sky heights, and groceries are at their highest price ever. Day to day living has become tough and finances are tighter than ever for the common people.
Few are struggling to earn a minimum standard meal for a day, and on top of it the latest poverty estimates released by the Planning Commission has amazed everyone which stated that anyone with a daily consumption expenditure of Rs. 28.35 and Rs. 22.42 in urban and rural areas respectively is above the poverty line.
According to Tendulkar Methodology, the total percentage of people living below poverty line is 42 percent and 25.5 percent in rural and urban areas respectively. The total percentage which is below poverty line (BPL) is 37.2 percent.
Name: Mukesh Ambani
Age: 54
Net Worth: USD22.6 Billion
Hometown: Mumbai
Despite losing USD4.4 billion last year, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL), that also inked USD7.2-billion deal with British Petroleum, holds the top spot with a net worth of USD22.6 billion.
Rank 2:
Name: Lakshmi Mittal
Age: 61
Net worth: USD19.2 Billion
Hometown: London
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaking company.
Rank 3:
Name: Azim Premji
Age: 66
Net Worth: USD13 Billion
Hometown: Bangalore
Tech tycoon Azim Premji of Wipro, one of Asia's top philanthropists is at No 3 even after donating shares worth USD2 billion to his charitable trust.
Rank 4:
Name: Shashi and Ravi Ruia
Net worth: USD10.2 Billion
Hometown: Mumbai/London
The brothers, Shashi and Ravi Ruia, sold their 1/3 stake in telecom unit Vodafone Essar for USD5.4 billion in July, 2011.
Rank 5:
Name: Savitri Jindal
Age: 61
Net Worth: USD9.5 Billion
Hometown: Hisar/Delhi
Savitri Jindal is the head of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. Her son Naveen Jindal is also a politician and Member of Parliament of Indian National Congress.
Rank 6:
Name: Sunil Mittal
Age: 54
Net worth: USD8.8 Billion
Hometown: Delhi
With over 230 million customers, Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel is world's fifth-largest telecom company, with operations in 19 countries.
Rank 7:
Name: Gautam Adani
Age: 49
Net worth: USD8.2 Billion
Hometown: Ahmedabad
Indian entrepreneur and self-made billionaire Gautam Adani is the Chairman of Adani Group, a leading trading and export company of India.
Rank 8:
Name: Kumar Mangalam Birla
Age: 44
Net worth: USD7.7 Billion
Hometown: Mumbai
Aditya Birla Group is among the world's top 10 producers of cement and Asia's biggest aluminum producer.
Rank 9:
Name: Pallonji Mistry
Age: 82
Net worth: USD7.6 Billion
Hometown: Mumbai
Pallonji Mistry, the Chairman of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is the richest person of Iranian descent. His signature project is The Imperial, two 60-story towers in Mumbai.
Rank 10:
Name: Adi Godrej
Age: 69
Net worth: USD6.8 Billion
Hometown: Mumbai
His 114-year-old Godrej Group has a partnership with chocolate maker Hershey's. He is also the chairman of elite Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.
