Nine non-resident Indians, including steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, tycoons Hindujas and industrialist Lord Swraj Paul, are among the top 300 millionaires in Britain, according to a report published on Sunday.
Others NRIs in the Rich Report 2003, published in The Mail, are cosmetic businessmen Jatania brothers, fashion baron Tom Singh, pharmacy bosses Bhikhu and Vijay Patel, hotelier Jasminder Singh and family, drugs importers Bharat and Ketan Mehta and Europe's largest online travel agency chief Dinesh Dhamija.
According to the list Lord Paul's fortune has declined from £160 million in 2002 to £115 million this year.
"The steel slump is having a profound effect on Caparo. The company reported a loss of £15.3 million and turnover fell by nearly £40 million, while Paul's three sons, who now run the firm, took a 40 per cent pay cut," it says.
The fortune of Lakshmi Mittal, ranked 14, went up from £1 billion in 2002 to £1.25 billion this year.
He gave the Labour Party £125,000 weeks before Prime Minister Tony Blair backed his purchase of a Romanian steel plant through one of his companies, LNM.
The Indian-born billionaire's stake in Ispat International is worth around £160 million. New acquisitions by LNM in Kazakhstan, Romania and Algeria are flourishing.
Mittal has also extended holdings in South Africa and now has a stake worth nearly £300 million in its largest steel works.
"In July, Mittal spent £7.1 million on a penthouse in Park Lane, London," the report says.
"He also owns a £9 million mansion in the capital, a house in Trinidad and a Gulfstream jet. His wife Usha, 52, is involved in the business; son Aditya, 27, led new acquisitions and daughter Vanisha will join the firm," it says.
The Hinduja brothers, Srichand, 67, Gopichand, 63 and Prakash, 57, have maintained their rank at 40 but their fortune has gone up from £650 million last year to £670 million this year.
"They are India's richest businessmen with a multi-billion-pound global empire," it says.
Their stake in Ashok Leyland, India's second-largest truckmaker, and other Indian assets is worth up to £200 million.
Outside India, their Gulf oil concession is worth £400 million, with another £70 million in property and other assets. "Their companies are registered in tax havens, such as the Bahamas, Panama, Liberia, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg," the report says.
The position of the Jatania brothers has improved and their riches increased from £300 million last year to £330 million this year.
"Mitesh [Mike] Jatania and his family head a worldwide cosmetics empire. They built a fortune selling skin-lightening cosmetics in Africa, cut-price products and reproductions of well-known fragrances," it says.
Their company, The Lornamead Group, was founded in 1978 and is based in Dubai but has affiliated offices in London, Dublin, Moscow, Lagos, Johannesburg, Holland and Scandinavia.
"Lornamead buys and revives established but flagging brands, such as Harmony hairspray and Boymist."
Mike, 37, is one of four Ugandan-born brothers who run the group. Their two British companies have a combined turnover of £7 million and losses of just over £1 million. The brothers raised £50 million to buy more consumer brands when they launched the Epic Brand Investments on the stock market at the end of last year.
The women's wear chain owned by Tom Singh doubled its profit from £30.6 million to £62.3 million in a year helping him to increase his fortune from £213 million last year to £290 million now.
Luxury hotel owner Jasminder Singh's fortune had declined from £268 million last year to £240 million.
Tanzania-born son of an Indian restaurateur, 51-year-old Singh began by buying a dingy Bread and Breakfast in Kensington, where he was manager, desk clerk, porter and even cleaner.
He went on to buy and refurbish other hotels. The company's net assets have fallen to £260 million due to a revaluation in light of the troubled sector, the report says.
