Asia Times: Princes among the poor: India's super-rich


	February 1, 2002	atimes.com

India/Pakistan

Princes among the poor: India's super-rich
By Raju Bist

MUMBAI - They are the envy of their fellow countrymen in a poor land politely referred to as a "developing country" by other nations. The super-wealthy are few among the 1 billion plus residing in India, and that is why they are the focus.

They are the super rich. A recent compilation revealed that Azim Premji, who holds 75 percent of the stock in software firm Wipro Technologies, is the richest Indian, with a personal wealth of Rs276.3 billion (US$5.7 billion). Following him closely is Dhirubhai Ambani, who built the Reliance Group into India's leading business conglomerate in just under three decades. His wealth is estimated to be Rs241.5 billion. And Shiv Nadar, whose HCL brand of PCs sells the most in India, ranks third at Rs60.2 billion.

A "Super Rich" list released recently by the Business Standard newspaper showed that the elusive chairman of pharma major Cipla, Y K Hamied, has a personal wealth of Rs27.9 billion and is No 4. Subhash Chandra, who launched India's first private satellite TV company, Zee TV, is fifth at Rs 27.9 billion. N R Narayana Murthy, the legendary founder-chairman of Infosys Technologies, is placed 10th at Rs17.3 billion.

Another pharma giant, K Anji Reddy, who promoted Reddy Laboratories, saw his wealth soar to Rs13.9 billion, and he emerged in the 11th position. Nandan Nilekani, co-promoter of Infosys and a graduate of the famed Indian Instutute of Technology (IIT) at Mumbai, lands at No 14, with a wealth of Rs11.7 billion.

In India, the newly rich had come to mean the information-technology (IT) boys (and a few girls). But that was until about six months ago. The IT meltdown also melted away the fortunes of some of the software czars and they have been relegated to lower positions as compared with last year.

Thus, D V S Raju of VisualSoft slipped from 16th to 82nd position as his wealth depreciated to Rs1.2 billion. South India-based SSI specializes in upper-end software computer education courses. Its chief promoter Kalapathi Suresh's net wealth has eroded from Rs7 billion to Rs560 million. The fortunes of Dinesh Dalmia of DSQ Software plunged a massive 87 percent, and his net wealth is down to Rs940 million from Rs6.98 billion.

The list also touches promoter groups.

Dinesh Shah's family, which owns 50 percent of the diamond-trading firm Asian Star, saw its worth catapult from Rs2.2 billion to Rs3.7 billion. The promoters of New Delhi-based Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd, a leading telecom hardware manufacturer, are worth Rs2.3 billion.

Producer-director-writer Subhash Ghai made Indian cinema history by being the first to go public with his production house Mukta Arts, in September 2000. Ghai, now 58, started his career in the film industry in 1965 as a graduate from the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India. A flop as an actor, he later directed 15 movies, most of them box-office successes. His family's wealth is put at Rs1.9 billion.

Known as the "Jumping Jack" of Indian cinema for his frenetic crowd-pulling song-and-dance routines, actor Jeetendra Kapoor later floated Balaji Telefilms to supply TV programs to the plethora of satellite channels. The immensely successful Balaji, in which the Kapoors hold about 80 percent equity, helped the family reach a collective worth of Rs1.3 billion.

But in India it's not the people behind the screen - big or small - who stand out for their riches. It's the stars that matter.

His "hero" status long past behind him, 32 years and 101 films later, Amitabh Bachchan continues to attract the top billing. A TV game show (the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), assorted brand endorsements, live concerts and a refurbished movie career as a supporting actor have helped Bachchan reach a net worth of Rs1.8 billion.

Graduating from a TV to a screen star, Shah Rukh Khan is now one of the richest actors around. Apart from acting in films, he co-owns a movie-production company, appears in numerous live concerts abroad and endorses everything from colas to cars. He owns a seaside bungalow worth Rs130 million, charges Rs30 million per film and has been known to take home Rs10 million for endorsing a brand of suitings.

Actor Govinda Ahuja has been the luckiest at the box office in recent years - and also the most prolific, churning out about seven hits every year. He has also hosted a TV game show and is into brand endorsements.

Actor Aamir Khan had two runaway hits in Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai last year, apart from charging Rs70 million for a Coke ad. Another Richie Rich actor is Hrithik Roshan, who is known to charge Rs60 million per film after his phenomenally successful debut Kaho Na Pyar Hai. He charges Rs20 million for live concerts and has already earned Rs200 million from brand endorsements.

Among the actresses, Karishma Kapoor, granddaughter of legendary filmmaker Raj Kapoor, has managed to garner a wealth of about Rs510 million, and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai is known to have a net worth of Rs210 million.

But the most fascinating entrants in the list are the low-profile promoter groups who have eschewed listing their companies on the bourses.

Topping this list is T V S Iyengar, with annual sales of a staggering Rs44 billion and a cumulative net worth of Rs13.8 billion. The Chennai-based Amalgamation Group has 25 unlisted companies in the fold with cumulative sales of Rs24 billion. The Andhra Sugar Group's four companies had a total turnover of Rs4.4 billion. Similarly, sitting on unlisted wealth of Rs1.6 billion is the Murugappa Chettiar Group.

From being a manufacturer of cycle parts, telephone instruments and gelatin capsules, Sunil Bharti Mittal has come a long way to become one of the largest telecom operators in the country. The unlisted baron's Bharti Televentures, the holding company for cellular and other telecom business, has been valued at Rs94 billion. The Mittal family's 53 percent stake could be worth Rs49.8 billion.

The reclusive Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, an old-time family friend of the Tatas, the promoters of India's largest industrial group, the Tata Group, is the single largest stakeholder in holding company Tata Sons, at over 18 percent. The 71-year-old Pallonji Mistry is worth Rs 70billion today, on a very conservative estimate. And this is not counting his 200-horse stud farm in Pune or his picturesque 30,000-square-foot sea-facing mansion on Bhulabhai Desai Road in the heart of Mumbai or his country houses in England.

Ramesh Chauhan has never come close to listing on the stock markets yet his products' names - Thums Up and Gold Spot soft drinks (which he sold to Coca Cola) and Bisleri bottled water are household names. Chauhan is believed to have pocketed Rs1.8 billion from the sale of his soft drinks to Coke.

The list wraps up with those who have made millions on the sports field and those who have just stuck to their jobs.

Early last year, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, 28, signed a five-year endorsement contract worth Rs1 billion with the Mark Mascarenhas-run outfit WorldTel. The sports management company has the right to handle all his commercial endorsements and marketing activities.

He replaced chess wizard Viswanathan Anand as the wealthiest sportsperson in the country. Anand's net worth is estimated at about Rs96 million. His match appearance fees range from Rs470,000-120 million per event. Anand earned Rs310 million when he became world champion in December 2000.

Also in the running are cricketers Sourav Ganguly (Rs450 million) and Rahul Dravid (Rs420 million), all earned from brand endorsements.

The ranks of non-promoter manage keeps growing. The biggest take-home belonged to Vivek Paul, vice chairman and executive officer of Wipro, who earned a salary of Rs40 million.

Trailing behind was Phaneesh Murthy, director (sales) of Infosys, at Rs19 million. At Dr Reddy's Lab, T G V Prasad, chief executive officer, and K Satish Reddy, chief operating officer, each earned Rs17 million. Others on this prestigious list included Yogi Deveshwar, chairman of ITC (Rs12 million), and Ninu Khanna, director of Dabur (Rs11 million).

On the whole, the list leaned toward known names, but some of the new entrants were entirely unexpected. Which is precisely what makes this kind of an exercise so fascinating.

So, while the envious go through the present list with a magnifying glass in hand, they wait with bated breath for the next one - to see who have retained their positions and, more important, who have been booted out.

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