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This article was first published 14 years ago

The richest Indians in other countries

Last updated on: August 27, 2010 09:03 IST

Image: Ryuko Hira (Kamlesh Punjabi).

Indians worldwide seem to be getting richer. India has 84,000 high net worth individuals with a combined net worth of $310 billion.

However, with Indians proving their business acumen and prowess across the globe, many nations see Indian-born people amongst the richest individuals there. So check out who are the richest Indians in other nations:

Ryuko Hira (Kamlesh Punjabi), Japan

Ryuko Hira, who real name is Kamlesh Punjabi, was born in Jaipur, is the richest Indian in Japan.

Hira is the chairman of Ora Group of Companies, Japan and owner of many business organisations. He owns and operates over 50 hotels and resorts, provides management and advisory services to 90 hotels. He also runs many other businesses. He is an ardent follower of Sri Sathya Sai Baba

His group is valued at over $10 billion

He did his graduation in Gemmology from the Gemmological Institute of America. As it was a necessity to be at home in the Japanese language, he completed the Japanese Language Certificate course from Sophia University, Tokyo.

To remain competitive in the global travel and tourism industry, Hira had to opt for Japanese citizenship in the late 1970s with the permission of the Indian government.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Ananda Krishnan.

Ananda Krishnan, Malaysia

Ananda Krishnan, a former oil trader and chairman of Maxis Communications, Malaysia's largest cell phone service provider, is the richest Indian in Malaysia with an estimated net worth of $7.4 billion.

Krishnan's telecom interests in Indonesia and India are still privately held. Krishnan recently sold his stake in real estate company Overseas Union Enterprise to partner, Indonesia's Lippo Group.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Inset: Kirit and Nishita Shah

Kirit and Nishita Shah, Thailand

Nishita Shah, along with her father Kirit, is the richest Indian in Thailand. The Forbes magazine estimates her net worth at $375 million.

She is the director of her family's business, Precious Shipping, Thailand's biggest dry-bulk shipper boasting a fleet of 44 ships.

Her father, Kirit, founded the group in 1989. The company also owns a fashion label, Nsha.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Srichand (L), Gopichand (C) and Prakash Hinduja (R).
Photographs: Reuters

Hinduja brothers, The United Kingdom

The Hinduja brothers -- Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash -- are said to be worth an estimated $12.4 billion.

"They are amongst the United Kingdom's richest businessmen with a multi-billion-pound global empire. They have businesses and diversified holdings across 42 countries.

Their stake in Ashok Leyland, India's second-largest truckmaker, and other Indian assets is worth over $200 million.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Mickey Jagtiani.

Mickey Jagtiani, The United Arab Emirates

Mukesh 'Mickey' Jagtiani fortune is estimated at $2.65 billion. He is one of the richest Indians in the Gulf.

Jagtiani's Landmark Group is now one of the Gulf's biggest retail empires, with 900 stores in 15 countries and an operations turnover of  $3.2 billion per year, employing 31,000 staff. Billionaire Jagtiani is one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East retail industry.

The Dubai-based Landmark operates over 600 stores in the Gulf, India, Pakistan, China and Spain. The company was launched in Bahrain in 1973 with just a single store. Today, its brands span from children's fashion, footwear and cosmetics, with additional interests in leisure, hotels and electronics. Jagtiani did his schooling in Mumbai and Beirut

According to the survey, the third in the list of the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) richest Indians, are Jumbo Group founders the Chhabria family, with an estimated wealth of $1.45 billion.

Lulu Hypermarkets boss Yusuff Ali and Oman-based PNC Menon are the other two billionaires on the list. Sunny

Varkey of Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) group with a $650 million fortune also features in the list.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Bicky Chakraborty

Bicky Chakraborty, Sweden

Bicky Chakraborty, known as the hotel king of Sweden, operates 18 hotels under the brand name Elite Hotels.

Elite Hotels owns 25 English pubs. The company is the largest Swedish owned hotel group with a turnover of over $250 million.

He's also a restaurateur and part-owner of some trendy restaurants in Stockholm, such as the Riche and Sturehof.

He won the Pravasi Samman Award from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in 2008.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Pallonji Mistry

Pallonji Mistry, Ireland

Pallonji Mistry, an Indian origin business magnate, has topped Ireland's rich list with a worth of 3.9 billion pounds ($5.93 billion).

Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry is an Irish-Parsi construction tycoon. With his 18.5% stake in Tata Sons, he is the single largest shareholder in India's largest private conglomerate Tata Group.

Mistry, who became an Irish citizen in 2003 through his Irish born wife, has interests in real estate, cars, heavy industry, tea and partly owns the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Mistry, who is in his 70s, reportedly has 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons.

The 79-year-old Mistry is ranked 129th on the world billionaire list. He is also the 11th richest Indian.

Mistry is an affable and humble person seldom willing to assert his authority or position. However, he carries a high degree of credibility in his business dealings.

Noel Tata, Ratan's half-brother and the son of Simone Tata, is married to Mistry's eldest daughter, Aloo.

Mistry's sons Shapoor and Cyrus are on the board of Indian Hotels and Tata Power, respectively.

The Mistrys have a huge construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji. Shapoorji, the group patriarch and Pallonji's father, built some of Mumbai's landmarks around the Fort area -- the Hong Kong Bank, Grindlays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Reserve Bank of India building.

Pallonji Mistry extended the construction interests of the group to the Middle East by bidding for the Sultan of Oman's palace.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Tony Fernandes.

Tony Fernandes, Malaysia

Anthony Francis Fernandes is a Malaysian entrepreneur and the founder of the low-cost airline AirAsia.

He was born in Kuala Lumpur to a Goan father and a Portuguese mother. He was educated in London and also went to the London School of Economics.

He worked for a while with Richard Branson's Virgin Records, before quitting to go his own way.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: L N Mittal.

L N Mittal, United Kingdom and South Africa

NRI billionaire and chairman of steel giant Arcelor Mittal, Lakshmi N Mittal with a net worth of $28.7 billion ranks fifth in the list of the richest people.

He is also the wealthiest person in the United Kingdom and South Africa where his business has major interests.

Mittal has been named at the top for third consecutive year with a net worth of 27.3 billion rand ($4 billion) in the latest annual list of 100 richest in South Africa.

Mittal, who is a resident of Europe, Russia and the United Kingdom and has an Indian passport as well, also holds the title of richest person in Britain.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Murli Kewalram Chanrai has a major cocoa business.

Murli Kewalram Chanrai, Singapore

Murli Kewalram Chanrai is the chairman of the Chanrai Group of companies, which has interests in textiles, commodities, real estate, according to Wikipedia.

Olam International, a part of the group, is said to be the world's largest trader of cashews and second-largest trader of cocoa.

Chanrai wealth is estimated at $880 million, making him the richest Indian in Singapore.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: (Inset) Bob Singh Dhillon.

Bob Singh Dhillon, Canada

Bob Singh Dhillon is one of the richest Indians in Canada. When he was doing his MBA at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, he was known among his classmates for his stated goal of becoming the world's first Sikh billionaire.

His company, the publicly-listed Mainstreet, owns hundreds of apartment buildings in Calgary, Alberta; Surrey and Abbotsford, British Columbia, Toronto and elsewhere. His assets are valued at over $650 million. He also owns a 2,700-acre island in Belize, where he is building what he calls an 'architecturally-controlled oasis in the Caribbean', with 'resorts, condos, high-end houses, golf courses, residential lots'.

His family is from Tallewal village near Barnala in Punjab.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Vinod Khosla.

Vinod Khosla, The United States

Vinod Khosla, the iconic venture capitalist, is estimated to be worth over $1.1 billion.

Recently, two of Khosla Ventures' new funds -- Khosla Ventures III and Khosla Ventures Seed -- raised $1.1 billion, which is actually more money than they had targetted originally. The money will be used to foster innovation in areas, including clean energy technology.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: (Inset) A K Nathan.

A K Nathan, Malaysia

A self-made building contractor A K Nathan, with a net worth of $250 million, is one of the richest Malaysians.

Nathan owns and runs Eversendai, a Kuala Lumpur contractor that fabricates, designs and erects the steel frames for buildings. Nathan grew up in Malaysia, aside from some years of schooling in India.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Anil Agarwal.

Anil Agarwal, India and The United Kingdom,

Anil Agarwal, founder-director and executive chairman of the UK-based Vedanta Resources Corporation, who was the fifth richest in the list last year has grabbed the second position this year with a wealth of Rs 91,926 crore (Rs 919.26 billion).

He was ranked 113th in Forbes magazine's 2010 list of the world's billionaires.

His proposed takeover of Cairn Energy's India business, if it goes through, could see Agarwal emerging as the richest promoter of a corporate house in India ahead of Mukesh Ambani, who has ruled the list for long.

After the acquisition of Cairn India and a proposed IPO of group firm Sterlite Energy, Anil Agarwal, as head of the promoter family, would command an estimated net worth of close to Rs 167,000 crore (Rs 1,670 billion), ahead of Mukesh Ambani at Rs 145,275 crore (Rs 1,452.75 billion), a comparison of promoter family holding valuations for leading groups reveals.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: (Inset) Anurag Dikshit.

Anurag Dikshit, Gibraltar

Anurag Dikshit is one of the richest men in Gibraltar and the richest Indian there. He has recently given away a major portion of his wealth towards charity through his Kusuma Trust.

The 38-year-old recently sold off his stake in PartyGaming.

Born in Dhanbad, Anurag Dikshit has a BTech from IIT Delhi.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Lord Swraj Paul.

Lord Swraj Paul, The United Kingdom

The 79-year-old Swraj Paul is an Indian-born, British national with business interests spanning many countries. His Caparo Group is valued at over $1.5 billion.

Caparo has presence in 50 locations across the UK, North America, India, Spain and Dubai. It employs over 6,000 people worldwide, more than half in the UK.

The group established its presence in India in 1994, though a joint venture with Maruti Udyog (now Maruti Suzuki) and has a presence in 16 locations in India, with primary interests in manufacturing automobile components. It is also a major supplier for Tata Motors' iconic small car, the Nano.

He is the first India born Briton to be appointed a Privy Councillor.

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The richest Indians in other countries

Image: Gope Hathiramani has a crystalware shop on Rue de Rivoli in Paris.

Gope Hathiramani, France

Gope Hathiramani is the richest Indian in France and seemingly getting richer by the day. His net worth is estimated at over $100 million.

Born in 1940, Hathiramani was the only son of a family with extensive land holdings at Hyderabad in Sindh. But six years on, the family had to leave everything and move at the time of partition.

His father had left just before the partition to join a multinational company in Algiers, capital of Algeria. The rest of the family initially settled in Baroda, but later moved to Pune. And it was in Pune that he began his education.

His father resigned from the MNC that he worked in and opened a shop selling toys and gifts, aimed at tourist traffic.

By 1965, Hathiramani's luck began turning and in March, he opened his first shop on Rue de Rivoli, selling leather hand bags for women. The choice of the venue, more than anything else, helped Hathiramani tremendously in the initial years as he had the right kind of items for his upmarket and tourist clientele.

Within three years, Hathiramani had acquired his second shop and the fourth year saw yet another addition. Incidentally, all the shops were located on the same road.

By this time, his sister and brother-in-law and parents had also joined him in France. In 1965, he also got married to a Sindhi girl in Mumbai.