Lakshmi Mittal tops Forbes list of Indian billionaires

Reliance Industries head Mukesh Ambani, who has been propped up by a bull run on the Indian bourses, came a close second to London-based Mittal with a personal fortune of $49 billion.

His brother Anil Ambani, who heads Reliance Communications, India''s second-ranked mobile carrier, was third with a net worth of $45 billion.

DLF chief Kushal Pal Singh is fourth on the India rich list with a net worth of $35 billion, making him the world''s richest real estate developer.

Azim Premji dropped one spot to the fifth position this year while Kumar Birla and Tulsi Tanti slipped two places each.

Forbes said ten newcomers entered the top 40, including Gautam Adani, the richest new entrant at 13th with $6.7 billion.

Essar Group''s Shashi and Ravi Ruia are the only new entrants in the list of the 10 richest Indians compiled by Forbes, while banker Uday Kotak jumped the most number of places among the top 40 billionaires.