Ambani loses India’s rich list top spot to pharma tycoon

MUMBAI: A fall in oil prices saw Mukesh Ambani cede his status as “India´s richest man” on Thursday to pharmaceutical tycoon Dilip Shanghvi, who edged to the top of Forbes´ list of billionaires in the country.
The “real time” list of the richest Indians on the business magazine´s website showed Shanghvi with a net worth of $22 billion, and Ambani, who chairs the giant Reliance Industries group, behind with $20.4 billion.
The switch comes just three days after the Forbes list for 2015 confirmed 57-year-old Ambani as India´s top billionaire for the eighth straight year.
But a surge in the shares of Shanghvi´s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Wednesday helped his wealth count rise to the top spot on Forbes´ real time tracker.
Shanghvi´s business profile has rocketed after he bought out troubled pharma peer Ranbaxy Laboratories last year from Japanese giant Daiichi Sankyo for $3.2 billion.