It was a celebration of wealth throughout 2007. With the stock markets on a
roll, India's billionaire entrepreneurs had an extraordinarily good year, with
a slight churn in the list of richest Indians. Here's a look at the 10 richest
Indians:

1. Mukesh Ambani: The richest man on earth?

2007 has been an extraordinary one for Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh
Ambani. The 50-year-old's net worth shot up to $63.2 billion on the back of a
booming stock market on October 29, making him the richest Indian in the world.
Some media reports said Mukesh was now the richest man in the world, but the
jury is still out on that.

During this year, the combined market capitalisation of four of his group
companies -- Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum, IPCL and Reliance
Industrial Infrastructure Ltd -- crossed the Rs 500,000 crore mark.

Although he is a modest man, Mukesh Ambani is currently building a 60-storey
apartment at Mumbai's Malabar Hill. The building is estimated to cost $1
billion and is being designed after the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It is
expected to be completed by next September.

The media went into a tizzy when he bought his wife Nita a Rs 242 crore (Rs
2.42 billion), customised corporate jet on her birthday on November 1. The
aircraft, an Airbus 319, has all the luxury trappings associated with the
lifestyle of jet-setting kind such as a sky bar, a master bedroom as well as a
bathroom with fancy showers.

The only setback for Ambani this year came in the form of opposition to
Reliance Fresh, the retail chain division of Reliance Industries from small,
local retailers. The latter attacked the Reliance Fresh stores, claiming that
these stores would put their existence at stake. As a result, Reliance Fresh
had to pull out of Uttar Pradesh.


2. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, the 57-year-old chairman and chief executive of the
world's largest steel company ArcelorMittal, with an estimated worth of $51
billion, is the second richest Indian in the world. Originally from Sadulpur
village in Rajasthan's Churu district, Mittal now lives in London.

One hears many stories of the steel tycoon's wealth -- stuff dreams are made
of. He bought Kensington Palace Gardens, his home, in 2004 for ?7.1 million,
the highest price ever paid for a house. This is not all. When Mittal coughed
up over ?30 million to host his daughter Vanisha's wedding in June 2004 at the
Chⴥau de Vaux-le-Vicomte near Paris, it naturally turned out to be the world's
most expensive wedding ever.

In 2007, many accolades came Mittal's way, of which his inclusion in the list
of '100 most influential people' by Time magazine deserves special mention.

In November, ArcelorMittal added another feather to its cap in being the first
foreign company to acquire controlling stake in a Chinese steel firm, China
Oriental -- in a deal valued at about $1.6 billion (over Rs 6,000 crore).

In September, the steel tycoon also pledged an investment of about $20 billion
for building two 12 million tonne steel plants in India, where the demand for
the commodity is growing rapidly


3. Mukesh Ambani's 48-year-old estranged brother has a net worth of $45 billion,
which makes him the third richest Indian in the world.

Anil Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications, and
chairman and managing director, Reliance Energy.

After splitting with Mukesh, he now runs the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, with
major ventures in telecom, energy and financial services.

Under Anil's aegis, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group has drawn up plans to
foray into multi-product retailing using its mobile phone network.

Branded Mobi-Retail, this service will be offered to the 35 million
subscribers of Reliance Communications, who will be able to use their handsets
to buy over 100,000 products ranging from fresh vegetables to groceries,
readymade garments, toys and electronics.

The consumer can either pick up products from a delivery point or ask for home
delivery. The group will leverage over 300,000 outlets in 10,000 towns in
formats like Reliance World, Reliance World Express, Reliance Money, Reliance
Insurance, Big Flicks, and Adlabs as the delivery points.

Dealing with the telecom tangle over spectrum, he recently accused GSM
operators of 'hoarding' surplus spectrum and sought Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's intervention to ensure that service providers like Vodafone and Bharti
Airtel surrendered the excess airwaves


4. 76-year-old Kushal Pal Singh (K P Singh), with a net worth of $35 billion, is
the fourth richest Indian in the world. He heads the DLF Group, India's
largest real estate developer, which has interests in Delhi, Chandigarh,
Kolkata, etc.

In 1960, Singh quit the Indian Army to join the American Universal Electric
Company, a joint venture between Universal Electric Company of Owosso,
Michigan, and Singh's family. Later he established Willard India Limited along
with a Philadelphian company ESB Inc.

He joined DLF Universal Limited as the managing director in 1979. Singh's
greatest achievement is that he transformed Gurgaon, a barren village then,
into one of the favourite real estate destinations of India.

Ever since DLF went public, Singh's wealth has grown exponentially. Sample
this: On October 3, DLF saw its market capitalisation jump by a spectacular Rs
20,782 crore -- or $5.25 billion -- on the back of a mad Bull Run. As Singh
owns over 88% of DLF, his personal wealth skyrocketed by Rs 18,338 crore ($4.6
billion) in just one day!


5. According to Forbes magazine, there are only 171 billionaires in the world who
have made $4.6 billion in their entire lifetime

Wipro Technologies's 62-year-old chairman is the fifth richest Indian in the
world with a net worth of $13.6 billion.

Premji inherited a cooking oil business from his father young and he
transformed it into technology services giant Wipro. Under his leadership
Wipro metamorphosed from a Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million) hydrogenated cooking
fats company to a pioneer in providing integrated business, information
technology and process solutions.

Wipro currently employs more than 55,000 people. Premji recently set up Wipro
Arabia, a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's Dar Al Riyadh group.

In 2000, AsiaWeek voted Premji among the 20 most powerful men in the world.
Premji was among the 50 richest people in the world from 2001 to 2003 listed
by Forbes. In April 2004, he was rated one of the 100 most influential people
in the world by Time magazine.

Premji's elder son, 31-year-old Rishad, joined Wipro's financial services
practice this year.


6. Sunil Bharti Mittal is India's telecom czar. The ambitious 50-year-old Mittal
is the 6th richest Indian with an accumulated wealth of $12.5 billion. 'Work
is love, not stress,' philosophises Mittal, one of India's most successful
entrepreneurs.

A self-made billionaire, Mittal once said 'the biggest time of difficulty was
passing out of college.' Chairman and managing director of the Bharti Group,
his tryst with entrepreneurship began when he was 18. He borrowed Rs 20,000
from his father, politician Sat Pal Mittal, and started making bicycle parts
for local manufacturers.

Later, he saw great opportunity in the telecom space. In 1986, he partnered
with Siemens to manufacture telephone equipment. Sunil Mittal was the first to
introduce push-button phones in India.

In 1995, Bharti Cellular Limited was formed to offer cellular services under
the brand name Airtel. Bharti soon became the first telecom company to cross
the 2 million mobile subscriber mark. The domestic long-distance and
international long-distance cellular call rates became affordable thanks
mainly to Mittal.

Today, Bharti Airtel has grown to become India's largest GSM-based mobile
phone company with 50 million subscribers. Bharti's next big venture is its
retail foray in alliance with the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. Will
Mittal replicate his telecom magic?


7. The Ruias have entered the Forbes list of the 10 richest Indians for the first
time with a wealth of $12 billion, and are at the seventh spot. The Essar
Group was founded over three decades ago by the Ruia family who migrated to
Mumbai from Rajasthan.

The Ruias have been in business since the 1800s. Essar Chairman Shashi Ruia
recently remarked about the entrepreneurial spirit that runs in the family: 'I
am not just an MBA, but also an MBB (Marwari by birth).'

In 1969, following their father Nand Kishore Ruia's death, Shashi and Ravi
Ruia took over the group. Soon, they transformed a small family business into
a diversified corporation dealing in shipping, steel, oil and gas, and
telecom.

In 2007, the brothers earned $6.3 billion selling their 33 per cent stake in
Hutchison-Essar to Vodafone. Shashi Ruia has been instrumental in the
company's foray into several new businesses like steel, power, construction,
shipping, and oil & gas.

Ravi Ruia is known for his entrepreneurial skills, innovative spirit and an
eye for detail that has enabled the Essar group gain global recognition. Essar
is the fourth largest industrial house in India in terms of assets.

8. The boom in India's realty sector has turned around the fortunes of real
estate developers. Meet India's real estate baron, Ramesh Chandra, 68. The
low-profile Chandra is the founder of Unitech and is today the eighth richest
man in India with a net worth of $11.6 billion.

He started a consultancy firm in 1972 after returning from the United Kingdom
with a degree in structural engineering. He, and three of his friends, started
as consultants in soil mechanics and foundation engineering. Later, he started
taking up civil engineering contracts. This was followed by his venture into
real estate. With the boom in the realty sector, Unitech rose to become
India's second largest real estate developer, with a market cap of $6.7
billion.

Today, the group develops plush residential, commercial, leisure and retail
properties, and hotels. Power transmission lines, highways, theme parks, steel
plants, indoor stadiums... Unitech has enjoyed an interesting and diverse
entrepreneurial journey.

Under Chandra's leadership, Unitech plans to set up a non-banking finance
company to sell home loans. The company is also in talks with international
insurance firms to offer general insurance in India. Unitech has also applied
for a licence to offer mobile services.


9. Young and enterprising Kumar Mangalam Birla represents the dynamic crop of
successful businessmen who are set to make a mark in the global business world.

Kumar Mangalam, who turned 40 this year, is the ninth richest Indian with a net
worth of $11 billion. He took over as chairman of the Aditya Birla group after
his father, the legendary Aditya Birla, died of cancer in 1995. Many were
sceptical about his capability to run the Birla empire. But Kumar Mangalam
proved his mettle by giving his businesses the right direction and also forayed
into cellular telephony, asset management, software and business process
outsourcing.

The Aditya Birla Group traces its origins back to the tiny village of Pilani in
Rajasthan, where Seth Shiv Narayan Birla started cotton trading operations in
1857. Today, under Kumar Mangalam's leadership, the group's footprint extends
to 20 countries and its revenues are in excess of $24 billion.

Their major companies in India are Grasim, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Aditya
Birla Nuvo and Idea Cellular and globally -- Novelis, Minacs, Aditya Birla
Minerals, Aditya Birla Chemicals.


10. Tulsi Tanti, the modest and down-to-earth chairman of Suzlon Energy, is an
inspiration for budding entrepreneurs.

The 49-year-old Tanti, with a net worth of $10 billion, has breezed his way to
become the 10th richest Indian.

Tanti's first venture was a polyester yarn business. He sensed an opportunity
in wind energy when huge power bills hit his textile business. Tanti founded
Suzlon Energy in 1995, along with his brothers, Vinod, Jeetendra and Girish.
The Tantis moved to Maharashtra, set up a wind farm with a 250MW potential at
Vankusavade in Satara district and since then there has been no looking back.

Wind power fuelled Tanti's entrepreneurship to new heights. Today, Suzlon is
the fifth largest wind turbine supplier in the world, with over 7.7 per cent
of global market share. Suzlon develops and manufactures high-performance and
cost-efficient wind turbines.


Time magazine recently named Tanti as one of its Heroes of the
Environment.'Green business is good business and it is not just about making
money. It is about being responsible,' says Tanti. He says clean and green
power is the best option.