Top 10 Gujarati billionaires

New Delhi: It is a no hidden fact that Gujarat and Gujarati people continue to be at the forefront of India's economic development. While the global economy may be feeling the jitters, the Gujarati businessmen have been able to maintain consistent growth rate in the companies they are leading.Undoubtedly, there's an inherent spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship in Gujaratis that has led to their phenomenal success as a community in all their adopted lands. Let's take a look at top 10 Gujarati billionaires.Mukesh AmbaniMukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, controls one of the world's biggest oil refining complex at Jamnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat, with capacity to process 1.24 million bpd of crude. As per the Hurun India Rich List for 2014, Mukesh Ambani's wealth has risen 37 per cent to Rs 1.65 lakh crore this year. RIL posted a 13.7 per cent jump in its April-June quarter net profit to almost $1 billion, the highest quarterly profit by a private firm, on the back of higher refining margins, better petrochem earnings and surge in US shale gas business. Mukesh was born on April 19, 1957 to Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani. He is not only admired among the head honchos of India Inc for leadership, he has also received high praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for putting the state on global map.Dilip ShanghviDilip Shanghvi is the founder of Sun Pharmaceutical and is credited to build Sun into one of the most profitable generic drugs companies in the world. Sun has become the country's most valuable drug company and has plans to take its NYSE-listed subsidiary Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, in which it has nearly a two thirds stake. Dilip is now ready to steer Sun into its next growth phase.Anil AmbaniThe younger Ambani brother is currently the chairman of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. His net worth is Rs 43,000 crore, according to Hurun Report, published by a China-based luxury publishing and events group, tracking the uber rich. After the division of the Reliance Group in 2006, he became the chairman of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, which is composed of high growth companies like Reliance Communications, Reliance Big Entertainment, Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. However, over the recent period, his fortunes have seen a sharp decline as he has lost more than 50 per cent of his wealth due to the plunging shares of his holdings. Anil has been known to tell aspiring entrepreneurs, “Work till your last breath. Work is worship.” Anil is also well known for his unrivaled toughness in negotiations. Anil follows a disciplined lifestyle and prefers a strict vegetarian diet. “Our businesses span the entire landscape of emerging human aspirations,” is how Anil defines his corporate credo. He is married to Tina Munim, a celebrated Bollywood actress of yester years, and has two sons: Jai Anmol Ambani and Jai Anshul Ambani.Gautam AdaniGautam Adani is a self-made billionaire and chairman of power-focused Adani Group, which owns Mundra Port. He is the first billionaire from the city of Ahmedabad. According to a latest Hurun Report, a sharp 152 per cent jump in his wealth saw Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani break into the list of 10 richest Indians even as Mukesh Ambani retained the pole position. Adani blazed into the top league riding on the runaway share prices of his companies in recent past, pegging his wealth at Rs 44,000 crore, the report said. His success in the business world is a glaring example of the fact that the vision to build a successful enterprise does not require an MBA from a blue-chip B-School. Gautam S. Adani was born on June 24, 1962 in Ahmedabad where his parents Shantilal and Shantaben Adani, who hail from the town of Tharad in North Gujarat, had settled some years earlier. After completing high school at the Seth C.N. Vidyalaya in Ahmedabad, he enrolled for B.Com at the Gujarat University but dropped out during the second year and relocated to Mumbai at the age of 18, starting his career as a diamond sorter with Mahendra Brothers. Two years later he started his own company for trading in diamonds, and in the early 1980s moved back to Ahmedabad to manage a plastics unit for his elder brother. Soon he started importing PVC, under his own company, Adani Exports, and during the post-liberalization period, it became one of the largest players in the sector. At present Adani Group have interests in edible oil, coal trading/mining, power, oil and gas exploration, export-import of pulses and fruits. Mr. Adani lives in Ahmedabad along with his wife Priti, who is a dentist and head of the Adani Foundation.Sudhir MehtaSudhir Uttamlal Mehta serves as the Chairman of Torrent Group, of which Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited is the flagship company. He has been instrumental in steering the growth of Torrent Pharmaceuticals through strategic alliances with international giants from UK, Germany, France and USA. He also serves as a director of The Surat Electricity Company Ltd., Torrent Pvt Ltd. and Torrel Cosmetics Pvt Ltd. He is a Science graduate from Gujarat University. Earlier, Sudhir Mehta and his brother Samir Mehta came into limelight by buying a 1,112.4 sq yards bungalow on Dharam Marg in Chanakyapuri, near the American embassy, for Rs 111 crore. The Ahmedabad-based drug-to-power group bought the bungalow for Rs 10 lakh per yard.Samir MehtaSamir Mehta is the vice chairman of Torrent Group. Born in 1963, Samir Mehta began his career alongside his brother to contribute to the development of Torrent Pharmaceuticals. He took over the management of the pharma business of the group, which was concentrating on psychotropic drugs manufactured in their own plant at Vatva with focus on exports. Apart from overseeing the operations, he is contributing in the areas of HR, finance and general management. He was also behind setting-up of a state-of-the-art research and development center and a second manufacturing plant at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. He is holding positions on board of Torrent Power Generation Ltd., Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Torrent Power SEC Ltd, Torrent Power AEC Ltd., and Torrent Private Ltd.Pankaj PatelPankaj Ramanbhai Patel is the chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare. He comes from Ahmedabad and is the son of a pharmacy professor. With over 30 years of experience in the pharma industry, he is one of the most successful pharma entrepreneurs in the country. Zydus Cadilla is a well known brand now and enjoys good reputation in the pharma industry. Zydus enjoys presence in segments like cardiovasculars and gastrointestinals. It has 17 brands that feature amongst the top 300 pharmaceutical brands in India. In 2006, the group was featured in the Forbes list of 'Best Under a Billion' company from amongst 200 companies in Asia.Bharat DesaiBharat Desai is a Kenyan-born Gujarati-origin Indian American entrepreneur and founder of Syntel. He currently serves as chairman of Syntel headquartered in Troy, Michigan. Desai co-founded Syntel in 1980 with his future wife Neerja Sethi. Desai was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. He was also the recipient of the Michigan Entrepreneur Award from the Harvard Business School and recognized as Entrepreneur Of the Year by USA Today and NASDAQ. Desai received an MBA in finance from Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai. Syntel, which specializes in IT and outsourcing solutions, went public in 1997 and now employs over 20,000 people in more than two dozen offices around the world.Romesh WadhwaniRomesh T. Wadhwani is the founder and chairman of Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm investing in software and software services companies. He is a Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, having created and sold three companies in 30 years. In 2000, Wadhwani's e-commerce start-up Aspect Development Inc was acquired by i2 Technologies, another Indian-owned company, in a historic and one of the largest deals in the US software industry that year. His Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development at the Indian School of Business focuses on on broad-based policy research. Romesh currently serves on the boards of directors of STG companies SymphonyIRI Group, Symphony Services, Lawson, MSC Software and Shopzilla. Romesh says strengthening Indian entrepreneurship in the technology domain will accelerate the economic development in the country while contributing positively to the global business scenario.Uday KotakUday Kotak is the vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank. He owns a 50 per cent stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank, which he founded and runs. He is among India's first billionaire banker who started out with a small finance firm in 1985 and then made it a full-fledged bank after acquiring banking license in 2003. The bank has over 320 branches and 2.7 million customers. Uday Kotak was born in Mumbai, India and belongs to traditional Gujarati cotton trader's family.