Subhash Chandra

MUMBAI: Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra may have seen an erosion in his personal wealth this last year but that hasn't prevented his climbing a place in the richest Indians' list.

Business Standard's fourth annual ranking of the richest Indians belonging to the Billionaire Club features Chandra in fourth place with his total wealth estimated at Rs 23.88 billion. Last year, Chandra was in fifth place with Rs 29.52 billion and the net worth of his unlisted companies is placed at Rs 1.72 billion.

Wipro's CMD Azim Premji tops the list with an estimated wealth of Rs 322.02 billion. The Ambanis of Reliance are placed second with Rs 188.63 billion. The survey was conducted in association with Amity Business School.

Business Standard's study also shows that the highest climbers in terms of value is the Hinduja family (ranked No 13) whose net worth has increased by Rs 7.11 billion to Rs 15.22 billion.

The study also showed that the entertainment industry is becoming another major moneyspinner.

Subrata Roy

Five billionaires, of whom three are directly linked to television, have a combined value of Rs 31.72 billion. Chandra towers over this pack and is followed by Subrata Roy of Sahara Media with a net worth of Rs 3.2 billion. Also up there is Jeetendra Kapoor through Balaji Telefilms whose net worth was placed at Rs 2.47 billion.

The top corporate earners from media on the list were also

Jeetendra Kapoor

from Zee. RK Singh and the man who replaced him Sandeep Goyal are nowhere in the Zee picture today but as whole time directors on the company board figure in the list. RK Singh had a gross salary of Rs 18 million whereas Goyal had a gross salary of Rs 17.3 million.

The methodology adopted for estimating wealth was based on market value of their holdings in the listed companies. In line with the international practice, the crossholding structure of their stakes was also considered. The net worth of those own unlisted companies has also been taken into consideration. More than 25,000 unlisted companies spread over 100 sectors were considered. The "earning" billionaires or professional managers were also considered.