Two top industrialists from Gujarat, though controversial, have raised India’s pride through their positioning at the top of the Richest Asians list by a wealth tracking agency. While billionaire Mukesh Ambani retained the top position, Gautam Adani edged closer to him and took the second richest Asian slot. In the process, he outwitted top Chinese businessman Zhong Shanshan, who made his money mainly from the bottled water business. The listing done by IIFL Wealth Management India was the 10th in a series. The survey also noted that India has as high as 1,007 high net worth individuals, each carrying with them a wealth of over Rs 1,000 crore; and 13 of them hold over Rs 1 lakh crore each. An Oxfam report recently stated that 10 percent of Indians hold 75 percent of the nation’s wealth. It is well-established that the gap between the rich and poor in India is steadily widening and governmental policies are manipulated in ways that would facilitate this. Most of those in the rich-list are based in Mumbai and Delhi, the two cities where economic and business activities are of the highest order. Fact is also that Delhi steadily absorbed larger economic clout while Mumbai saw activities slowing. Delhi as the administrative capital helped in the growth of the business class there in the age of free-wheeling corruption and slush funds.
Other than the IT industry, and the spirit of enterprise apart, the business growth in India is happening largely with the selective backing and policy manipulations by the governments in power. The Tatas and the Parsi community as a whole brought with them wealth from outside and crafted success with Mumbai as their base. They invested in textile mills, steel, etc, giving these sectors the initial fillip. The Birlas based in Delhi grew with patronage of Congress governments; and the Ambanis of the next generation too followed suit since Indira Gandhi’s terms. The Adani group too grew with governmental backing all along. Those like the Mittals made huge fortunes in the UK. The IT tzars took advantage of the global growth in the information technology sector and played by the rules. In the age past the Socialistic pursuits, India is encouraging entrepreneurship. Yet, the manufacturing sector, for one, is down in the dumps with our deadly dependence on China. Things would have been better had corruption and nepotism been less, and deals transparent, so that more people would have been encouraged to create big success stories. If so, not individuals alone but India too would have grown more rapidly.