Ambani siblings Mukesh and Anil, who chose to walk separate paths in fable-like fashion last year, have each made huge fortunes that has put them ahead of Azim Premji, the man so far tagged as India's richest.
However, NRI tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, the world's third richest man who made a $25 bn fortune outside India by selling steel, took the crown in the list of 'India's 40 Richest' released by Forbes magazine on Friday.
Premji's Wipro which earlier made edible oil and now software, has been relegated to the fourth spot on the list.
Unlike Forbes' World Billionaires List, this ranking has been broadened to include family fortunes, Forbes said.
By this measure if the Ambanis, who run diversified business empires, had stayed together, their collective fortunes (Mukesh-$18.50 bn and Anil-$14.80 billion ) would have surpassed that of Mittal by a head.
Kushal Pal Singh, group chairman of real estate major DLF that is mulling Rs 13,000 IPO, ranked fifth in the list.
There are five newcomers in the list this year including owner of Sun TV Kalanithi Maran, promoter of Unitech Ramesh Chandra and Jignesh Shah, who set up India's largest commodities exchange.
{{/usCountry}}There are five newcomers in the list this year including owner of Sun TV Kalanithi Maran, promoter of Unitech Ramesh Chandra and Jignesh Shah, who set up India's largest commodities exchange.
{{/usCountry}}Two others who have returned to the list were tractor tycoon Keshub Mahindra and Infosys Technologies co-founder K Dinesh.
This year's dropouts include, Biocon's chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.