A soaring stock market propelled the combined wealth of members of the 2021 Forbes list of India's 100 Richest to a record USD 775 billion, after adding USD 257 billion—a 50 per cent rise—in the past 12 months. In this bumper year, more than 80 per cent of the listees saw their fortunes increase, with 61 adding USD 1 billion or more.

At the top of the list is Mr Mukesh Ambani, India's richest person since 2008, with a net worth of USD 92.7 billion. Mr Ambani recently outlined plans to pivot into renewable energy with a USD 10 billion investment by his Reliance Industries. Close to a fifth of the increase in the collective wealth of India's 100 richest came from infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani, who ranks No. 2 for the third year in a row. Mr Adani, who is the biggest gainer in both percentage and dollar terms, nearly tripled his fortune to USD 74.8 billion from USD 25.2 billion previously, as shares of all his listed companies soared.

At No. 3 with USD 31 billion is Shiv Nadar, founder of software giant HCL Technologies, who saw a USD 10.6 billion boost in his net worth from the country's buoyant tech sector. Retailing magnate Radhakishan Damani retained the fourth spot with his net worth nearly doubling to USD 29.4 billion from USD 15.4 billion, as his supermarket chain Avenue Supermarts opened 22 new stores in the fiscal year ending March.

As of early October India administered over 870 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, thanks partly to Serum Institute of India, founded by vaccine billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, who moves into the top five with a net worth of USD 19 billion. His privately held company makes Covishield under license from AstraZeneca and has other Covid-19 vaccines under development. India's recovery from a deadly second wave of Covid-19, which broke out earlier this year, restored investor confidence in the world's sixth-largest economy.