These are painful times for India's richest as the ongoing global turmoil drastically reshapes their fortunes. The country's once soaring stock market fell 48% in the 12 months, the rupee depreciated 24% against the dollar and gross domestic product growth is expected to slow down to 7.5%, partly owing to double-digit inflation.
All of this conspired to knock 60% off the combined fortunes of the nation's 40 wealthiest. Their total net worth fell $212 billion, to $139 billion, down from $351 billion a year ago.
Last year's No. 1, U.K. resident Lakshmi Mittal, dropped $30.5 billion amid plunging steel prices, but he slips only a bit, to No. 2. Mukesh Ambani, who oversees petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries, grabs the top spot for the first time, despite losing $28.2 billion in the past year. His estranged brother, Anil, ranked third, is the biggest dollar loser, down $32.5 billion.
Others were nearly wiped out entirely. India's wind power man Tulsi Tanti and his brothers lost 91% of their fortune, amid reports about the poor quality of Suzlon's wind blades. Real estate fortunes were among those hit the hardest.
K.P.Singh lost $27.2 billion since we last published our listing but is down an astonishing $39 billion since his DLF stock peaked in January. Property tycoon Ramesh Chandra's net worth dropped 91% to $1 billion. His Unitech lost half its market capitalization in one day last month.
Thirty-three of the 34 tycoons who returned to our ranking of India's richest are at least 20% poorer than they were a year ago. Only one fortune from last year's ranks increased, that of brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who sold their 34% stake in generic drug firm Ranbaxy Laboratories to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo at a hefty premium to its current stock price. They added $550 million to their combined wealth.
Others with pharmaceuticals fortunes outperformed the market, but thanks to a sliding rupee, their net worth fell too. Dilip Shanghvi of SunPharma, India's most valuable drug maker, was poorer by $800 million, despite an increase in his net worth in rupees.
Six people dropped off our list altogether after losing a collective $7.9 billion. They included flamboyant liquor and airlines tycoon Vijay Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines is racking up losses, and Gautam Thapar, whose Ballarpur Industries is India's largest paper maker. Taking their places are four newcomers, including Micky Jagtiani, who oversees a retailing empire in the Middle East, and Hemant Shah, son of a Bollywood film producer, who made his fortune in construction.
Returning to the list after a one-year absence are Yusuf Hamied, head of generics producer Cipla, and Brijmohan Lall Munjal, patriarch of Hero Group, which makes motorcycles and bicycles.
Some more sobering statistics: While all 40 tycoons were billionaires last year, only 27 now have 10-figure fortunes, nine fewer than in 2006.
These net worths are snapshots of wealth taken on Nov. 3, when we locked in market prices and exchange rates. Had we locked in just a week earlier, the losses would have been still greater, as the nation's main index gained 21% in the days leading up to our list publication.
Privately held companies were valued by comparing them to similar public companies. Indian nonresidents like Lakshmi Mittal were included as long as they still hold Indian citizenship. This ranking, unlike the Forbes billionaires list, includes family fortunes.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Bush, Obama aides rebut talk of a free trade deal
Washington, Nov.12 (ANI): White House aides are reportedly fuming over leaked reports that President Bush had offered a political compromise in which he would support a bailout for the auto industry in exchange for Obama's support of a free-trade deal with Colombia.
According to the president-elect's aides, Obama told Bush that he favors appointing a czar to oversee any bailout for the nations' domestic automakers. That appointee would have power to push for reforms in an ailing industry on the brink of bankruptcy.
Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino did not deny the White House was upset about the leaks, but declined to castigate the Obama team herself.
"You're not going to hear that from me," the New York Post quoted her as telling reporters, blaming the entire dust-up on unnamed sources.
Normally, private chats with the president in the Oval Office are presumed to remain private.
But on their return flight to Chicago after Monday's meeting, Obama aides gave reporters a read out from the Bush-Obama meeting, including the topics that were discussed.
Reporters were told that the two men discussed the stimulus package, the travails of the auto industry and housing foreclosures. By mid-afternoon yesterday, both sides were sweeping the matter under the rug.
Both sides were in agreement yesterday that no deal had been hatched between Obama and Bush to support each other's leading agenda items.
According to the president-elect's aides, Obama told Bush that he favors appointing a czar to oversee any bailout for the nations' domestic automakers. That appointee would have power to push for reforms in an ailing industry on the brink of bankruptcy.
Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino did not deny the White House was upset about the leaks, but declined to castigate the Obama team herself.
"You're not going to hear that from me," the New York Post quoted her as telling reporters, blaming the entire dust-up on unnamed sources.
Normally, private chats with the president in the Oval Office are presumed to remain private.
But on their return flight to Chicago after Monday's meeting, Obama aides gave reporters a read out from the Bush-Obama meeting, including the topics that were discussed.
Reporters were told that the two men discussed the stimulus package, the travails of the auto industry and housing foreclosures. By mid-afternoon yesterday, both sides were sweeping the matter under the rug.
Both sides were in agreement yesterday that no deal had been hatched between Obama and Bush to support each other's leading agenda items.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Obama's Biggest Decision
Tue, Nov 11 02:30 PM
Liz Moyer, Forbes.com
Three days after the election, pressure is mounting on President-elect Barack Obama to name his Treasury secretary and other key economic advisers.
Obama gathered his economic advisory board Friday in Chicago and in the afternoon held his first post-election press conference, at which he said the Cabinet picks will be made with deliberate haste. Still, he did not put forward a name.
The meeting came the day the government announced unemployment has reached a 14-year high of 6.5%, with 240,000 jobs cut in October, up from 6.1% in September and higher than the worst point of the 2001-03 recession. On Thursday, major U.S. retailers reported double-digit sales declines for October.
Obama said Friday that the economy is in "bad shape," and his initial goal as president will be to boost jobs and restore confidence. A fiscal stimulus plan will be part of that, he said.
Selecting the economic and financial advisers to steer him through an undoubtedly rocky first few months is the most important decision facing the president-elect. The next Treasury secretary inherits a badly shaken financial system, a mandate to rein in Wall Street's excesses, and hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of risky new programs ginned up by the current president to stop the bleeding.
Some of the people thought to be under consideration for the post are scheduled to attend the meeting Friday, including former Treasury secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, business professor and former head of the Council of Economic Advisers Laura Tyson and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.Berkshire Hathaway whom bookmakers had given short odds for the Treasury post before the election, will phone in.
Conspicuously absent from the list of attendees is Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He, along with ex-Treasury secretary Summers, are thought to be the front-runners for the job.
Obama's task in choosing a Treasury secretary is complicated by the situation on Wall Street.
The government is taking a direct $250 billion stake in the U.S. banking system by injecting banks with capital. Because all of the nine major U.S. banks, as well as dozens of regional and smaller banks, are participating, picking a banker could raise criticism that Obama is putting a fox in charge of the hen house.
There are plenty of bankers whom he could call in, though many of them are alumni of Goldman Sachs, where current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came from. That, of course, would prompt criticism from conspiracy theorists about Goldman's backroom influence in Washington.
Rubin, a former Goldman president and current Citigroup board member, has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but he has played down any interest in joining a new administration. He served as Treasury secretary under President Clinton. Longer-odds possibilities include Merrill Lynch, and Jon Corzine, currently governor of New Jersey.
JPMorgan Chase, has been mentioned as a heavy favorite in recent days. JPMorgan is taking money through the Treasury's capital plan, but the diverse commercial bank company has endured the credit crisis relatively well compared with others.
Dimon was called to aid in the rescue of Bear Stearns earlier this year and the takeover of Washington Mutual's assets and deposits after its collapse in September. He was at the table when regulators and fellow bankers discussed the fates of Lehman Brothers and American International Group.
He also has an Illinois connection: He turned around Chicago-based Bank One before selling it four years ago to JPMorgan Chase. A JPMorgan spokesman had no comment.
It's easy to draw links between Obama and JPMorgan, mostly through William Daley, the former commerce secretary, the brother of Chicago's Mayor Daley and the head of JPMorgan's office of corporate social responsibility. On Wednesday, Daley was named to Obama's 12-person transition team, and he will be at the meeting Friday
Liz Moyer, Forbes.com
Three days after the election, pressure is mounting on President-elect Barack Obama to name his Treasury secretary and other key economic advisers.
Obama gathered his economic advisory board Friday in Chicago and in the afternoon held his first post-election press conference, at which he said the Cabinet picks will be made with deliberate haste. Still, he did not put forward a name.
The meeting came the day the government announced unemployment has reached a 14-year high of 6.5%, with 240,000 jobs cut in October, up from 6.1% in September and higher than the worst point of the 2001-03 recession. On Thursday, major U.S. retailers reported double-digit sales declines for October.
Obama said Friday that the economy is in "bad shape," and his initial goal as president will be to boost jobs and restore confidence. A fiscal stimulus plan will be part of that, he said.
Selecting the economic and financial advisers to steer him through an undoubtedly rocky first few months is the most important decision facing the president-elect. The next Treasury secretary inherits a badly shaken financial system, a mandate to rein in Wall Street's excesses, and hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of risky new programs ginned up by the current president to stop the bleeding.
Some of the people thought to be under consideration for the post are scheduled to attend the meeting Friday, including former Treasury secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, business professor and former head of the Council of Economic Advisers Laura Tyson and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.Berkshire Hathaway whom bookmakers had given short odds for the Treasury post before the election, will phone in.
Conspicuously absent from the list of attendees is Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He, along with ex-Treasury secretary Summers, are thought to be the front-runners for the job.
Obama's task in choosing a Treasury secretary is complicated by the situation on Wall Street.
The government is taking a direct $250 billion stake in the U.S. banking system by injecting banks with capital. Because all of the nine major U.S. banks, as well as dozens of regional and smaller banks, are participating, picking a banker could raise criticism that Obama is putting a fox in charge of the hen house.
There are plenty of bankers whom he could call in, though many of them are alumni of Goldman Sachs, where current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came from. That, of course, would prompt criticism from conspiracy theorists about Goldman's backroom influence in Washington.
Rubin, a former Goldman president and current Citigroup board member, has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but he has played down any interest in joining a new administration. He served as Treasury secretary under President Clinton. Longer-odds possibilities include Merrill Lynch, and Jon Corzine, currently governor of New Jersey.
JPMorgan Chase, has been mentioned as a heavy favorite in recent days. JPMorgan is taking money through the Treasury's capital plan, but the diverse commercial bank company has endured the credit crisis relatively well compared with others.
Dimon was called to aid in the rescue of Bear Stearns earlier this year and the takeover of Washington Mutual's assets and deposits after its collapse in September. He was at the table when regulators and fellow bankers discussed the fates of Lehman Brothers and American International Group.
He also has an Illinois connection: He turned around Chicago-based Bank One before selling it four years ago to JPMorgan Chase. A JPMorgan spokesman had no comment.
It's easy to draw links between Obama and JPMorgan, mostly through William Daley, the former commerce secretary, the brother of Chicago's Mayor Daley and the head of JPMorgan's office of corporate social responsibility. On Wednesday, Daley was named to Obama's 12-person transition team, and he will be at the meeting Friday
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Obama must move quickly to resolve Kashmir, Afghanistan: Ex-deputy national security adviser
Sun, Nov 9 01:15 PM
Washington, Nov.9 (ANI): A former Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan has called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to deal quickly with the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan.
"India has resisted U.S. mediation on Kashmir in the past, but the growing U.S.-India strategic relationship may now make American involvement possible," The News quoted Meghan O'Sullivan, as saying in an article for a foreign newspaper.
"One intriguing model for Kashmir is the 1998 Belfast agreement, which established a web of overlapping institutions that have allowed the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to, in effect, share sovereignty over Northern Ireland-and end decades of deep-seated violence," he said.
In case of Kashmir, the United Nations Security Council has called for the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination under U.N. auspices, a verdict India has all along defied.
On the eve of Election Day, Obama made two significant statements on Kashmir. He called for the United States to help resolve the decades-old Kashmir dispute, and then indicated that he might consider appointing ex-president Bill Clinton as a special envoy on the issue.
In his opinion piece, O'Sullivan, said, "President-elect Obama must deal quickly and boldly with Afghanistan. But doing so will require an early initiative to help Pakistan and India settle their differences on Kashmir.
The problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan are inseparable. But Pakistan's ability to deal with Taliban and other extremists on its western border is hampered by its preoccupation with India, its traditional adversary to the east." (ANI)
Washington, Nov.9 (ANI): A former Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan has called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to deal quickly with the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan.
"India has resisted U.S. mediation on Kashmir in the past, but the growing U.S.-India strategic relationship may now make American involvement possible," The News quoted Meghan O'Sullivan, as saying in an article for a foreign newspaper.
"One intriguing model for Kashmir is the 1998 Belfast agreement, which established a web of overlapping institutions that have allowed the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to, in effect, share sovereignty over Northern Ireland-and end decades of deep-seated violence," he said.
In case of Kashmir, the United Nations Security Council has called for the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination under U.N. auspices, a verdict India has all along defied.
On the eve of Election Day, Obama made two significant statements on Kashmir. He called for the United States to help resolve the decades-old Kashmir dispute, and then indicated that he might consider appointing ex-president Bill Clinton as a special envoy on the issue.
In his opinion piece, O'Sullivan, said, "President-elect Obama must deal quickly and boldly with Afghanistan. But doing so will require an early initiative to help Pakistan and India settle their differences on Kashmir.
The problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan are inseparable. But Pakistan's ability to deal with Taliban and other extremists on its western border is hampered by its preoccupation with India, its traditional adversary to the east." (ANI)
Terrorism threatens Gulf as much as it does India: PM
Sun, Nov 9 02:07 PM
Muscat, Nov 9 (IANS) Terrorism on land and sea threatens the Gulf region as much as it does India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Sunday.
Stating that there are many reasons for India to work closely with the Gulf nation of Oman to ensure a stable and prosperous region, Singh said: "Piracy, criminal activities and terrorism on our land and seas threaten the Gulf countries and India as well."
He said this while addressing a gathering of the Indian diaspora in Oman at the Indian embassy on the second day of his three-day tour to the Gulf, his first as prime minister.
The prime minister's comments come in the wake of a number of ships, including Indian, being hijacked by Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden in recent times.
In the course of the Qatar leg of the prime minister's trip starting Sunday, India will sign two agreements on defence and security cooperation with that Gulf nation.
The pact on defence will cover the issue of maritime security as well, it is learnt.
Stating that the Gulf is an area of great importance to India, Singh said: "It (the Gulf) is part of our extended neighbourhood and home to five million Indians. It is the largest source of our energy supplies. We have active trade and investment interests."
In a separate interview to Oman Tribune and the Arabic daily Al Watan, he had said that India would play a political, economic and strategic role that all Gulf countries were comfortable with in maintaining regional security in the Arabian Gulf.
"Our links with the region go back several centuries, and so we are not strangers to the Gulf," he was quoted as saying.
"We would like to view ourselves as a stabilising and moderating voice in a world that is faced with threats of extremism, intolerance and terrorism," he said, adding that new threats to the security of sea-lanes were also emerging.
"We will therefore play a role with which all countries in the Gulf are comfortable with and after due consultation and agreement. Such a role can include different forms of political, security and economic cooperation," the prime minister said.
Muscat, Nov 9 (IANS) Terrorism on land and sea threatens the Gulf region as much as it does India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Sunday.
Stating that there are many reasons for India to work closely with the Gulf nation of Oman to ensure a stable and prosperous region, Singh said: "Piracy, criminal activities and terrorism on our land and seas threaten the Gulf countries and India as well."
He said this while addressing a gathering of the Indian diaspora in Oman at the Indian embassy on the second day of his three-day tour to the Gulf, his first as prime minister.
The prime minister's comments come in the wake of a number of ships, including Indian, being hijacked by Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden in recent times.
In the course of the Qatar leg of the prime minister's trip starting Sunday, India will sign two agreements on defence and security cooperation with that Gulf nation.
The pact on defence will cover the issue of maritime security as well, it is learnt.
Stating that the Gulf is an area of great importance to India, Singh said: "It (the Gulf) is part of our extended neighbourhood and home to five million Indians. It is the largest source of our energy supplies. We have active trade and investment interests."
In a separate interview to Oman Tribune and the Arabic daily Al Watan, he had said that India would play a political, economic and strategic role that all Gulf countries were comfortable with in maintaining regional security in the Arabian Gulf.
"Our links with the region go back several centuries, and so we are not strangers to the Gulf," he was quoted as saying.
"We would like to view ourselves as a stabilising and moderating voice in a world that is faced with threats of extremism, intolerance and terrorism," he said, adding that new threats to the security of sea-lanes were also emerging.
"We will therefore play a role with which all countries in the Gulf are comfortable with and after due consultation and agreement. Such a role can include different forms of political, security and economic cooperation," the prime minister said.
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