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UK's rich Asians lose a fortune

There has been a drastic fall in the fortunes of London-based Indian steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, the Hinduja brothers and steel magnate Lord Swraj Paul, during the last one year, according to the latest 'Rich Report 2001' comprising top 300 British millionaires.

Mittal was listed as the fourth wealthiest in Britain in the Sunday Times rich list 2000 with a fortune worth 2.2 billion pounds.

The latest list drawn up by the Sunday Mail shows that Mittal's fortune had dwindled to 1.2 billion pounds and his position had fallen to 17th.

Slump in the steel industry has knocked more than 500 million pounds off his fortune. Early last year Ispat International, the public company of which Mittal owns nearly 80 per cent, was worth more than 1 billion pounds. Now it is worth 270 million pounds, the report said.

The total wealth of the Hinduja Group chaired by S P Hinduja, which was assessed at 1.95 billion pounds in 2000, has slumped to 800 million pounds in 2001, the report said.

"Close scrutiny of flagship businesses which were valued by leading management consultants at 1.05 billion pounds has revealed they are worth less than 150 million pounds on the Bombay Stock Exchange," the report said.

The shares in truck maker Ashok Leyland and Hinduja Finance Corporation, which includes cable TV interests, have plunged.

The report quoted a spokesman of the group as saying that the shares were undervalued. "Plans to build power stations in India have been stalled by bureaucracy and funding difficulties, although the family still owns a Swiss bank and other manufacturing interests including pharmaceuticals.

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