India's richest getting poorer, says Forbes

India's richest are getting poorer, according to Forbes, as falling stock prices, corruption scandals in Asia's third-largest economy and a global slowdown wiped 20 percent off the total value of the country's 100 wealthiest in the last year.

Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company, retained the top spot with a value of USD 22.6 billion, despite seeing his net worth drop by USD 4.4 billion.

In the same period, Ambani completed construction of a 27-storey house in Mumbai, costing an estimated USD 1 billion.

The biggest loser in the list was Ambani's younger brother, Anil, whose net worth stood at USD 5.9 billion, down from USD 13.3 billion. His Reliance Group companies have been some of the worst performers on the Mumbai bourse this year.

A major drag for Ambani has been telecom firm Reliance Communications, which has USD 7.5 billion in debt and has so far failed in efforts to ease debt and raise money.

The combined wealth of India's richest 100 people fell to USD 241 billion in 2011, according to the Forbes India Rich List, which includes 57 dollar billionaires, a dozen less than a year earlier.

"This has been a turbulent year for India's richest," Naazneen Karmali, India Editor of Forbes Asia, said in a statement.

"Despite the economy growing at close to 8 percent, a spate of corruption scandals and rising inflation have taken a toll."

The world's second-fastest growing major economy after China grew only 7.7 percent in the three months to June, its weakest in 18 months, and Mumbai's benchmark stock index is down 16 percent since January.

India has raised its interest rates 13 times in 19 months, hurting demand for big-ticket items and making it more expensive for businesses to raise capital.

Of the 85 alumni from last year's list, 66 saw their worth drop this year. A net worth of USD 370 million was enough to make the 2011 list, down from USD 500 million a year ago.

Mukesh Ambani lead a top ten dominated by industrial tycoons, including ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal, who came in second with a net worth of USD 19.2 billion.

Energy and metal barons Shashi and Ravi Ruia lie fourth with a combined worth of USD 10.2 billion.

Kumar Birla, head of the fabrics-to-cement Aditya Birla conglomerate, Adi Godrej of the Godrej Group and construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry -- the largest individual shareholder of the Tata Group and father-in-law to Noel Tata, touted as a likely successor to Ratan Tata -- are also in the top ten.

Many of those companies are benefiting from India's plans to spend USD 1 trillion in the five years to 2017 to overhaul its creaking infrastructure, seen as a barrier to continued economic growth.

Only one name from India's showpiece IT sector made the top ten: Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, India's No. 3 software services provider, ranked third with a net worth of USD 13 billion.

Savitri Jindal, head of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, was India's richest woman, sitting fifth on the list with a net worth of USD 9.5 billion. Jindal was one of only five women on the list of one hundred.

A USD 39 billion telecom scandal, likely India's largest ever graft scam, made its mark on the list, with two accused in the case, Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa, falling out of the top 100. Both deny any wrongdoing.

Debutants on the annual list include Kapil Bhatia and his son Rahul, founders of budget airline IndiGo, and V.G. Siddhartha, whose coffee shop chain Cafe Coffee Day gave him a net worth of USD 595 million.

India's biggest gainer in percentage terms was Brijmohan Lall Munjal, head of two-wheeler HeroMoto Corp, whose net worth rose to USD 2.7 billion in the year his firm ended a 26-year partnership with Japan's Honda Motor.

India's auto industry has seen car sales declining on high interest rates while families of four continue to buy two-wheelers, most of which can be bought without relying on loans.

RIL to suspend oil and gas drilling: Report

Energy major Reliance Industries will suspend oil and gas drilling pending an internal valuation of its exploration and production strategy, a newspaper reported on Monday citing sources briefed by the company.

The firm, India's most valuable company by market capitalization, has seen its growth outlook and market value hit hard this year by falling gas output from its huge gas fields off the east coast.

Reliance will halt drilling for an unspecified time until the review is completed and submitted to the government, three analysts present at a company meeting told the newspaper.

A Reliance spokesman declined to comment on the report when contacted.

Controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Reliance posted its highest ever quarterly net profit in its Q2 results on Saturday, but analysts focused on slowing gas output and said refining margins were still below expectations.

Last month, India's upstream regulator said Reliance was producing 44 mscmd (million standard cubic metres per day) from its main D6 block, lower than the 60 mscmd it was producing a year earlier and far off the planned peak capacity of 80 mscmd.

The CAG last month criticised Reliance and the government over development of the gas field in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin and called for revamping profit-sharing arrangements from oil and gas blocks.

Earlier this year, Reliance sold a 30 percent stake in 23 oil and gas blocks, some in the KG basin, to BP in a 7.2 billion deal.

The British company, with deepwater exploration expertise, has said it is confident of raising gas output from the field from 2014.

CBI may file case against Reliance: Report

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is considering filing a case or multiple cases against Reliance Industries over its operations of its gas block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, a newspaper reported on Today.

CBI is likely to name officials in the country's upstream regulator and the petroleum ministry in the case, the newspaper said, citing officials at the federal agency who declined to be named.

Earlier this month, Reliance Industries said there was no evidence to suggest that costs in development of the country's key natural gas field in the KG basin were overstated.

A Reliance Industries spokesman in Mumbai and a spokeswoman for the CBI in New Delhi declined to comment on the newspaper report.

"The preliminary inquiry against RIL and others is in final stages and very soon a case will be registered," one of the officials at the investigative agency told the newspaper, referring to Reliance Industries.

The federal auditor has criticised Reliance Industries and the government over development of a key natural gas field in the KG basin and called for revamping profit sharing arrangements from oil and gas blocks.

The offshore KG basin was expected to contribute up to one-quarter the gas supply for India, but lower-than-expected output has left the energy-hungry nation more dependent on expensive, imported LNG to fuel power and fertiliser plants.

Coal India overtakes Reliance Industries as most valuable company

State-run Coal India today toppled billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries as the country's most valued company, with a slightly higher market valuation around mid-day.

At around 1200 hours on the National Stock Exchange, Coal India Ltd (CIL) commanded a market cap of Rs 250,759.67 crore, with an over 2 per cent rise in its share price. At that time, RIL had a market cap of Rs 250,580.21 crore on the NSE.

A few minutes later, CIL's market valuation exceeded that of RIL on the BSE as well. At around 1206 hrs, RIL's market cap on the BSE stood at Rs 2,50,468 crore, slightly lower than CIL's Rs 2,50,538 crore.

At 1206 hours today, RIL shares were trading 0.82 per cent higher at Rs 765.20, while CIL was up 2.32 per cent at Rs 396.60.

CIL has been closing the gap on RIL in terms of market valuation over the past few days and on August 9, the gap slipped below 1 per cent.

RIL extended its lead by some margin since then, but the PSU coal giant managed to surpass the private sector energy giant's market capitalisation in today's trade at around 1200 hours.

At yesterday's close, RIL had a market cap of Rs 248,504.44 crore, as against CIL's 244,822.28 crore, on the BSE.

At the time of today's market opening also, RIL had a higher market cap of Rs 249,454 crore than CIL's Rs 244,822 crore.

Way back in 2006, RIL had toppled ONGC to emerge as the country's most valued firm and has managed to stay on the top since then.

ONGC had also come very close to toppling RIL as the country's most valued firm last week, but lost ground in the past few trading sessions. The stock was trading 2.4 per cent higher at Rs 279.50, with a market cap of Rs 2,39,125 crore, in today's trade at 1220 hours.

Marketmen would be keenly watching the three stocks to see whether RIL is able to regain its lead or loses further ground in the market-cap charts.

RIL's stock has been under acute pressure in recent past, while ONGC and CIL have managed to outperform in a weak market on several occasions in the past few days.