The richest man in India in October 2026 is Gautam Adani. The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026, with wealth measured on 24 August 2026, puts Adani and his family at Rs 9,22,800 crore, or $96.5 billion, ahead of Mukesh Ambani and his family at Rs 8,63,400 crore, or $90.3 billion.
Forbes India’s ranking, priced at the close of 11 September 2026, agrees on the order of the top two and has Adani at $112.7 billion and Ambani at $86.3 billion. Dollar figures here use Hurun’s rate of Rs 95.6346 per dollar on 24 August 2026. This guide follows Hurun’s ten and names the listed company behind each fortune. It is general information, not financial advice.
Who Is the Richest Man in India Right Now?
Gautam Adani is the richest man in India in October 2026. Hurun values him and his family at Rs 9,22,800 crore, about $96.5 billion at Rs 95.6346 per dollar on 24 August 2026, and Forbes India at $112.7 billion on 11 September 2026. Mukesh Ambani is second on both, at $90.3 billion and $86.3 billion.
Top 10 Richest Indians: Wealth in Rupees, in Dollars and on Forbes India
| # | Name | Listed company or group | Hurun wealth, Rs crore (24 Aug 2026) | US$ billion at Rs 95.6346 | Forbes India rank and US$ billion (11 Sep 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gautam Adani & family | Adani Enterprises | 9,22,800 | 96.5 | 1st, $112.7 |
| 2 | Mukesh Ambani & family | Reliance Industries | 8,63,400 | 90.3 | 2nd, $86.3 |
| 3 | Lakshmi Mittal & family | ArcelorMittal | 3,39,300 | 35.5 | 4th, $34.7 |
| 4 | Cyrus Poonawalla & family | Serum Institute of India | 3,03,400 | 31.7 | 6th, $28.4 |
| 5 | Roshni Nadar Malhotra & family | HCLTech | 2,78,500 | 29.1 | 7th, $27.4 (Shiv Nadar) |
| 6 | Kumar Mangalam Birla & family | Aditya Birla Group | 2,68,700 | 28.1 | 9th, $23.2 |
| 7 | Dilip Shanghvi | Sun Pharma | 2,64,600 | 27.7 | 8th, $26.3 |
| 8 | Azim Premji & family | Wipro | 2,62,800 | 27.5 | 32nd, $7.87 |
| 9 | Anil Agarwal & family | Vedanta | 2,08,300 | 21.8 | 41st, $6.4 |
| 10 | Samir Mehta & family | Torrent Pharmaceuticals | 1,89,400 | 19.8 | 13th, $17.5 (Sudhir & Samir Mehta) |
The 10 Fortunes, the Listed Company and the Promoter Stake Behind Each
Promoter holdings below are from each company’s shareholding pattern for 30 September 2026.
1. Gautam Adani: Ports, Power and a Family Trust
Hurun: Rs 9,22,800 crore ($96.5 billion) | Forbes India: $112.7 billion | Adani Enterprises, promoters 71.97%
Adani Enterprises is the flagship. In the shareholding pattern for 30 September 2026 the promoter group held 71.97%, down from 74.84% at 30 June, and the S.B. Adani Family Trust alone held 47.43%, against 49.33% in June. The family also controls 66.03% of Adani Ports and 74.96% of Adani Power.
Forbes India says the family fortune is still below the $150 billion it reached in 2022, though it rose $20.7 billion in the year, the largest dollar gain on its ranking. Hurun records a 13 percent rise and describes Adani as ahead of Ambani by Rs 59,400 crore.
2. Mukesh Ambani: Reliance and the Jio Listing
Hurun: Rs 8,63,400 crore ($90.3 billion) | Forbes India: $86.3 billion | Reliance Industries, promoters 50.44%
Reliance filed its pattern for 30 September 2026 on 21 October 2026 and it shows promoters at 50.44%, with Srichakra Commercials LLP the largest holder at 11.11%. Hurun records a 10 percent fall in his wealth; Forbes India puts the drop at $18.7 billion.
Jio Platforms received the market regulator’s observation letter on 28 August 2026 for an offering of up to 27 crore new shares worth about Rs 37,700 crore, which would be India’s largest IPO. The full breakdown is in our guide to the Mukesh Ambani net worth.
3. Lakshmi Mittal: A Steel Fortune Held Abroad
Hurun: Rs 3,39,300 crore ($35.5 billion), up 93% | Forbes India: $34.7 billion | ArcelorMittal, family trust 44.68%
ArcelorMittal is registered in Luxembourg and listed in Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg, Spain and New York, so no Indian exchange carries its pattern. Its 2025 annual filing says a discretionary trust, with HSBC Trustee (C.I.) Limited as trustee, held 340,088,546 shares with the shares held directly by Mr and Mrs Mittal, 44.68% at 31 December 2025.
The Mittals are beneficiaries of that trust, and a 2006 agreement caps the holding at 45%. He is based outside India, and Hurun counts people born or brought up in India wherever they live. His gain of Rs 1.64 lakh crore was the largest on the ranking, lifting him eight places.
4. Cyrus Poonawalla: Vaccines Without a Stock Price
Hurun: Rs 3,03,400 crore ($31.7 billion) | Forbes India: $28.4 billion | Serum Institute (unlisted); Poonawalla Fincorp 59.01%
Serum Institute was founded in 1966 and says its vaccines reach about 170 countries, with more than 1.5 billion doses produced. It is not listed, so there is no promoter filing, and Hurun values unlisted companies from the latest investor round and the multiples of listed peers.
The listed piece is Poonawalla Fincorp, where Rising Sun Holdings held 59.01% at 30 September 2026, down from 63.93% in March. Forbes India gives his age as 85 and moves him from 9th to 6th; his son Adar Poonawalla is the chief executive.
5. Shiv Nadar: HCLTech Held Through Two Companies
Hurun (Roshni Nadar Malhotra & family): Rs 2,78,500 crore ($29.1 billion) | Forbes India (Shiv Nadar): $27.4 billion | HCLTech, promoters 60.88%
HCLTech’s promoters held 60.88% at 30 September 2026: Vama Sundari Investments (Delhi) 44.23% and HCL Holdings 16.46%, plus the Shiv Nadar Foundation and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art at 0.08% each. Hurun names his daughter, the company’s chairperson, while Forbes India names him.
In the quarter to September 2026 HCLTech reported revenue of Rs 35,620 crore, up 11.5%, and record net income of Rs 5,132 crore, with more than 230,000 people in 60 or more countries and an interim dividend of Rs 12 a share.
6. Kumar Mangalam Birla: A Pyramid of Listed Companies
Hurun: Rs 2,68,700 crore ($28.1 billion) | Forbes India: $23.2 billion | Grasim, promoters 45.20%
The fortune sits in a chain. Promoters held 45.20% of Grasim, mostly through Birla Group Holdings at 23.18% and IGH Holdings at 6.64%, and Grasim in turn held 56.11% of UltraTech Cement, where the promoter total is 58.48%.
Hindalco, with promoters at 34.67%, holds 4.29% of Grasim, so the companies own pieces of one another. Hurun says Birla became chairman at 28 after his father’s death, and Forbes India moves him from 10th to 9th.
7. Dilip Shanghvi: Pharmaceuticals, Held Directly
Hurun: Rs 2,64,600 crore ($27.7 billion) | Forbes India: $26.3 billion | Sun Pharma, promoters 52.68%
Sun Pharma’s promoters held 52.68% at 30 September 2026: Shanghvi Finance 40.30% and Dilip Shanghvi personally 9.60%. The figure was 54.48% until three Valia family members, together holding 1.80%, were moved to the public category after a shareholder vote that closed on 26 September 2026.
The FY26 results show sales of Rs 58,220 crore, up 11.9%, and net profit of Rs 11,479 crore. Innovative Medicines reached $1,420 million, 20.7% of sales, and India market share rose to 8.4%.
8. Azim Premji: Wipro and an Endowment
Hurun: Rs 2,62,800 crore ($27.5 billion) | Forbes India: $7.87 billion, ranked 32nd | Wipro, promoters 72.57%
Wipro’s promoters held 72.57% at 30 September 2026. Three partnership firms, Zash Traders (20.98%), Prazim Traders (20.58%) and Hasham Traders (17.98%), are held in Azim Premji’s name as partner, and the Azim Premji Trust held 6.48%.
On 13 March 2019 he earmarked the economic benefit of about 34% of Wipro for philanthropy, then worth Rs 52,750 crore ($7.5 billion), taking the endowment to about Rs 1,45,000 crore ($21 billion).
9. Anil Agarwal: Holding Companies and a Split
Hurun: Rs 2,08,300 crore ($21.8 billion), up 87% | Forbes India: $6.4 billion, ranked 41st | Vedanta Ltd, promoters 54.72%
Vedanta Ltd’s promoters held 54.72% at 30 September 2026, all through companies: Twin Star Holdings 38.35%, Vedanta Holdings Mauritius II 12.60%, Vedanta Holdings Mauritius 2.75%, Welter Trading 0.98% and Vedanta Netherlands Investments 0.04%.
A demerger took effect on 1 May 2026 and split off aluminium, power, oil and gas, and iron and steel, with shareholders receiving one share in each. Forbes India shows him as a returning entry on its ranking.
10. Samir Mehta: A Merger That Diluted the Promoters
Hurun: Rs 1,89,400 crore ($19.8 billion), up 52% | Forbes India (Sudhir & Samir Mehta): $17.5 billion | Torrent Pharma, promoters 60.78%
Torrent Investments held 60.78% of Torrent Pharma at 30 September 2026, down from 68.31%. On 20 July 2026 the company allotted 4,19,22,416 shares to JB Chemicals shareholders at 51 for every 100, lifting the share count from 33,84,45,440 to 38,03,67,856.
Torrent had bought 46.39% of JB Chemicals from Tau Investment Holdings on 21 January 2026. Hurun puts the family up 52 percent and 10th; Forbes India lists the brothers Sudhir and Samir Mehta together at 13th.
Promoter Holdings Versus Personal Wealth
A promoter holding is the stake a founding family controls, reported quarterly in the pattern a listed company files with BSE and NSE. Personal wealth is a ranker’s estimate of what that stake, unlisted businesses and cash are worth. Most of the ten hold little in their own names:
- Mukesh Ambani: 1,61,04,040 Reliance shares, 0.12%, against 50.44% for the promoter group
- Kumar Mangalam Birla: 0.26% of Grasim directly
- Shiv Nadar and Roshni Nadar Malhotra: each rounds to 0.00% of HCLTech
- Azim Premji: 4.12% of Wipro directly, plus 59.54% through the three partnership firms
- Dilip Shanghvi: 9.60% of Sun Pharma directly, the largest personal stake of the ten
Why Hurun and Forbes India Give Different Numbers for the Same Person
Hurun’s cut-off was 24 August 2026 and it publishes in rupees; Forbes India prices at the 11 September 2026 close in dollars, in a period when it says the rupee fell 8.5 percent and the stock market 9.5 percent. Premji is the extreme case: 8th on Hurun at $27.5 billion, 32nd on Forbes India at $7.87 billion.
Some names sit in one top ten only. Forbes India has Savitri Jindal third at $39.8 billion, Sunil Mittal and family fifth at $32.9 billion (Bharti Airtel), the Hinduja family tenth at $21.2 billion (Ashok Leyland) and Radhakishan Damani and family 11th at $20.4 billion (Avenue Supermarts), down from 6th. None is in Hurun’s top ten.
Sectors Behind the Ten, and Who Gained or Fell Most in a Year
The fortunes come from a handful of industries:
- Refining, telecom and retail: Ambani
- Ports, power and airports: Adani
- Steel: Mittal
- Vaccines: Poonawalla
- Software services: Nadar Malhotra and Premji
- Cement and metals: Birla
- Pharmaceuticals: Shanghvi and Mehta
- Mining and metals: Agarwal
Hurun’s like-for-like sector moves were metals and mining up 30 percent, pharmaceuticals 25 percent and financial services 23 percent, against consumer durables down 21 percent and retail down 5 percent. Among individuals Mittal rose 93 percent, Agarwal 87 percent and Mehta 52 percent, while Ambani fell 10 percent. Forbes India says the software services owners, Nadar and Premji, lost ground as AI automation pressured their industry.
What the Ten Have Given: Philanthropy With Amounts and Dates
- Adani: the family pledged Rs 60,000 crore in June 2022; the Adani Foundation reports 13.3 million lives touched across 22 states
- Ambani: Reliance Foundation, set up in 2010, reports reaching more than 10 crore people in 98,000 villages; on 14 October 2026 it launched a partnership aiming to empower one million girls
- Nadar: topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2025 with Rs 2,708 crore given in FY25
- Premji: the 13 March 2019 pledge raised the endowment to about Rs 1,45,000 crore
- Birla: group community work covers 9,000 villages and 11 million people
- Agarwal: renewed his 75 percent pledge in January 2026; the Nand Ghar programme reports nearly 15,000 centres in 16 states
The largest charitable donations in history put these gifts in context; the richest country in the world shows how national income compares.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the richest person in India?
Gautam Adani, at Rs 9,22,800 crore ($96.5 billion) on Hurun’s 24 August 2026 snapshot and $112.7 billion on Forbes India’s 11 September 2026 pricing. Mukesh Ambani is second on both.
Who is the richest woman in India?
Hurun names Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson of HCLTech, at Rs 2,78,500 crore ($29.1 billion). Forbes India names Savitri Jindal of the O.P. Jindal Group, third overall at $39.8 billion.
How many billionaires does India have?
Hurun counts a record 391 dollar billionaires among 1,810 people worth Rs 1,000 crore or more. Forbes India’s 100 richest hold $1.00 trillion, with a $3 billion entry level.
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