Almost half of India billionaires' wealth held by 5 tycoons

[SINGAPORE] As India gets ready to celebrate its 68th Independence day on August 15, a list of the super wealthy in the country shows that despite the gloom about the economy, entrepreneurialism is still a key to getting rich.

Most of the people on the list represent new money rather than generational family wealth.

Five people leading the pack collectively control US$85.5 billion (S$106.8 billion) in personal wealth in India. There are 103 billionaires in a country of 1.2 billion people. Collectively, these 103 people control US$180 billion. This shows that the top five have a staggering 47.5 per cent share of the total billionaire wealth. The figures are from 2013, the latest available data.