While India was facing an unprecedented experiment of a nationwide lockdown last year, the wealth of billionaires had grown at a skyrocketing pace as the latest findings had revealed that 2020 had become an affluent year for several business magnates. According to the latest IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021, Gautam Adani has now become the second richest person in Asia and he is inching closer to beat his compatriot Mukesh Ambani in the race. 

Mukesh Ambani is currently the richest person in Asia and as per the findings, Ambani had retained the tag of India's richest man for the tenth consecutive year. The IIFL list has said that Gautam Adani had earned Rs 1,000 daily last year and became the second richest person in Asia for the first time. Adani had seen his wealth increasing to 261% last year to reach Rs 5.05 lakh crore. While Adani is worth Rs 5.05 lakh crore, Ambani is worth Rs 7.18 lakh crore.

Besides Adani, another Indian businessman Kumar Mangalam Birla had also seen a significant surge in his wealth as it rose to 230% last year to reach Rs 1.22 lakh crore. As per the list, Adani and Birla had moved up to rank 2 and 9 respectively. According to the list, third-generation entrepreneur of Godrej, Smita V Crishna is India's richest woman while Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the richest self-made woman on the list. The list had carried 13 individuals worth Rs 1 lakh crore or more and the number stood at five last year.

Some of the notable people on the list include Vinod Shantilal & family whose wealth had risen 212% to Rs 1.31 lakh crore and LN Mittal & family whose wealth had surged 187% to reach Rs 1.74 lakh crore. The IIFL Hurun India Rich list has also revealed that India currently has 237 billionaires, up from 58 last year. The largest number of debut billionaires were from Chemicals and Software, while Pharmaceuticals is still the number one and has contributed 130 entrants in the list. 

Mumbai has been declared as the city for India's biggest wealth creators as about 25% of billionaires in the IIFL list belong to Mumbai while New Delhi and Bengaluru had followed Mumbai. The current edition of the list also includes 47 women while the number of women stood at 5 in 2011. Though Ambani enjoys the top post, it was Adani who ruled the billionaires in 2020 and this Gujarat-based business tycoon had earned more than Ambani and both in terms of money and wealth growth. 

According to the list, Mukesh Ambani & family is more wealthiest in India with Rs 7.18 lakh crore. Ambani had earned Rs 163 crore daily and seen a 9% increase in his wealth. Gautam Adani & family had become the second richest in Asia with a wealth of Rs 5.05 lakh crore. While Ambani earned Rs 163 crore daily, Adani had earned Rs 1,002 crore every day and recorded a 261% increase in his wealth. Following Ambani and Adani, HCL's Shiv Nadar is the third richest Indian with a wealth of Rs 2.36 lakh crore and Rs 260 crore as daily income last year. 

The list has also revealed that Cyrus Poonawalla & family, which runs Serum Institute of India (SII), has been made to the list as the sixth richest in India. Though Ambani leads the list, Adani had surpassed the former in daily income and the wealth percentile. While speaking on the launch, the Founder of IIFL Wealth, Karan Bhagat has said that the rising wealth creation documented in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021 is a reflection of the robust foundation of the Indian businesses and the confidence they command from their respective stakeholders.