India’s diversified and vibrant business community. They have made themselves wealthy, given thousands of other jobs, and elevated India to a major role on the world stage in several industries. These businessmen are role models for up-and-coming businesses and have significantly contributed to the Indian economy.
1.Mukesh Ambani
Mr Mukesh Ambani, the Managing Director and Chairman of Reliance Industries, is India’s wealthiest individual. As reported by Forbes, Reliance Industries has a revenue of over Rs 9.03 lakh crore ($109.4 billion). It is involved in diverse sectors such as petrochemicals, oil and gas, retail, telecom, and more.
2.Gautam Adani
Gautam Shantilal Adani, an Indian billionaire industrialist, is renowned as the founder and chairman of the Adani Group. This multinational conglomerate is involved in port operations and development within India. The Adani Foundation, established by Gautam Adani in 1996, has his wife, Priti Adani, serving as its chairperson. The group’s business interests encompass various sectors, including ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy. Adani is recognised as India’s largest airport operator and also controls Gujarat’s Mundra Port, the country’s largest.
3.Savitri Jindal & family
Savitri Jindal is an Indian politician and entrepreneur who holds the esteemed position of emeritus chair at the OP Jindal Group. The various divisions of the business are run by her four sons: Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen Jindal. Further, JSW Sports, the sports division of the JSW Group, operates as part of the conglomerate that spans India, the US, South America, Europe, and Africa. Its objective is to actively contribute to developing a vibrant sports ecosystem in India. Savitri Jindal is the richest woman in India.
4.Shiv Nadar
Shiv Nadar is the proprietor of the HCL group and a pioneer of the IT industry in India. HCL boasts renowned clientele such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Boeing. In recognition of his remarkable contributions to the IT industry, the Indian government bestowed Mr Nadar with the Padma Bhushan, India’s esteemed third-highest civilian distinction, in 2008. Mr Nadar is a highly respected philanthropist. He has donated Rs 2,042 crore in late 2023 to various causes.
5.Dilip Shanghvi
Dilip Shanghvi is a prominent Indian business tycoon and the visionary behind Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, the first Indian pharma company with a $5 billion valuation. He grew Sun through a series of acquisitions, the biggest of which was the 2014 purchase of scandal-tainted rival Ranbaxy Laboratories for $4 billion.
6.Cyrus Poonawalla
Cyrus Poonawalla, a prominent figure in vaccine development within India, stands as the primary beneficiary of the expanding sales and earnings through his ownership of the privately held Serum Institute of India. Assisting him in its management is his son Adar. The institute is headquartered in Pune. Notably, the Serum Institute has the prestigious title of being the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The recent increase in Cyrus Poonawalla’s wealth can largely be attributed to the widespread utilisation of the Covid-19 vaccines manufactured by the SII.
7.Kumar Birla
Recognised as a prominent figure in the field of commodities, Kumar Birla assumes leadership over the Aditya Birla Group. Apart from its involvement in the aluminium and cement sectors, the group also provides financial services. Birla also held the role of the non-executive chairman of the Vodafone Idea telecommunications company; however, he stepped down in 2021 as the entity got riddled with more debts. As of 2024, the company has appointed Birla as a non-executive director. He was recently made additional director of boards of Vodafone Idea when Vodafone Idea made ₹18,000 crore FPO, the largest in India’s history, which was seen as a success and the beginning of “Vodafone Idea 2.0,” focused on network upgrades and 5G rollout.
8.Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani
Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani, an Indian entrepreneur and prominent investor, is renowned as the founder of Avenue Supermarts Limited, which runs almost 336 DMart stores in India. He is also known as India’s retail king, having started his journey from Mumbai in 2002. Additionally, he exercises control over his investment ventures via his company, Bright Star Investments Limited. He has stakes in VST and India Cement, and his property portfolio also includes Radisson Blu Resort in Alibaug.
9.Kushal Pal Singh
Property baron Kushal Pal Singh is chairman emeritus of DLF, India’s biggest listed real estate firm by market cap. Singh is an army veteran. He joined DLF, a company started by his father-in-law, in 1961. He then made DLF City in Gurgaon and served as chairman for more than five decades. He is now chairman emeritus. Today, the Delhi headquartered DLF is run by his son Rajiv Singh Pal as the chairman of the realty. DLF is known to launch a luxury residential project in 2022 in Delhi with GIC.
10.Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Mittal is famous for being chairman of the world’s largest steel and mining company by output. He started his steel company and then merged with France’s Arcelor in 2006 to become ArcelorMittal Steel. Though Mittal gave his CEO position to his son, Aditya Mittal, he still retained his position of executive chairman of ArcelorMittal. The company reported a net income of $919 million in 2023.