MUKESH AMBANI SOON TO JOIN WORLD'S 10 RICHEST
London, October 9, 2007 (IANS)

With booming stock markets sending his fortunes soaring on each passing day, Mukesh Ambani is well on his way to joining an exclusive list of the world's 10 wealthiest people. With a rise of over 100% in the share price of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), his flagship in the oil, petrochemicals and retailing group, Ambani's wealth has doubled to some $44 billion in the past year, the 'Financial Times' newspaper reported today.

The only businessman of Indian origin richer than him is Lakshmi N. Mittal, the London-based steel tycoon, whose 44.8 percent stake in Arcelor Mittal alone is worth about $48 billion, and ranks him fifth on the rich list.

Ambani is currently 14th on the Forbes' list of the world's 20 top billionaires and his younger brother Anil, with whom he split the business empire two years ago, is at number 18. But Mukesh Ambani's wealth has more than doubled since the publication of the list, when he was valued at $20.1 billion. After the high-profile feud with his brother, the 50-year-old Mukesh Ambani took over the petroleum refining and textile arms of the family business empire and his brother got the communications and energy generation businesses.

The bull run in Indian equities over the past few years on the back of investor interest in an emerging market growing at over nine percent annually has turned him into one of the world's richest men, the Financial Times reported.

In the past 12 months, the benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has risen nearly 50 percent - touching the magical 18,000-point mark Tuesday - and pushed the market capitalisation of listed stocks to well over $1,000 billion.

The newspaper said the Indian stock market has benefited from the global credit squeeze as foreign investors continue to see Indian blue chips such as Reliance as attractive due to the economy's continuing growth. "If other markets start to look problematic, India benefits. It is seen as a safe haven because of its secular growth story," said Vijai Mantri, chief executive officer of DWS Investments, part of Deutsche Asset Management.

RIL shares have risen at double the rate of the broader market. Together with the rupee's rise against the dollar, this has increased the value of Mukesh Ambani's 47 percent stake in the company to around $41 billion, while his other investments are worth about $3 billion.