India's Top Billionaires Rebound from March Lows as Markets Regain Momentum

India's Top Billionaires See Sharp Recovery in Wealth Amid Market Rebound

India's top billionaires have witnessed a significant recovery in their wealth from the March lows, driven by a broader market rebound amid easing geopolitical tensions surrounding the US, Iran, and Israel conflict. However, rising crude oil prices continue to remain a concern.

According to data analyzed by Moneycontrol, several Indian billionaires have seen substantial recoveries in their wealth from the March lows. Among the biggest recoveries are those of Gautam Adani, Ravi Jaipuria, Radhakishan Damani, Inder Jaisinghani, KP Singh, Lakshmi Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Savitri Jindal, and Samir Mehta.

Indian markets staged a strong comeback in April, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gaining over 6 percent each. The broader markets saw an even sharper rally, with the BSE MidCap 150 index jumping 12.7 percent and the BSE SmallCap 250 index surging 18 percent.

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Gautam Adani, founder of Adani Group, saw the biggest recovery, with his wealth jumping over 46 percent from its March low of $70 billion to $103 billion. The rebound was driven by a sharp run-up across group stocks. Adani Green Energy surged over 52 percent from its March low, followed by Adani Power which jumped 47 percent, Adani Energy Solutions up 44 percent, Adani Enterprises up 37 percent, and Adani Ports and SEZ along with Adani Total Gas advancing 26 percent each.

The second biggest recovery was seen in Ravi Jaipuria, founder and chairman of RJ Corp, whose wealth improved over 31 percent from its March low to $12.5 billion. The jump was driven by his Gurugram-based subsidiary Varun Beverages, whose stock climbed 34 percent from its March low.

Radhakishan Damani, who controls Avenue Supermarts, saw his wealth rise 24 percent to $19 billion from its March low of $15 billion. The DMart stock remained resilient even as markets tumbled during the conflict-driven selloff, gaining over 4 percent in February and 3 percent in March, before jumping 16 percent in April.

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Inder Jaisinghani, chairman and managing director of Polycab, and KP Singh of DLF, saw their wealth jump nearly 17.4 percent and 16 percent respectively from their March lows.

Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, and Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, each saw their wealth recover 14 percent. Savitri Jindal, India's wealthiest woman and controller of OP Jindal Group, saw her wealth improve 13 percent. Samir Mehta, chairman of Torrent Group, and Murali Divi, founder and managing director of Divi's Laboratories, each saw their wealth improve 10 percent.

Among others, Rahul Bhatia, co-founder of IndiGo parent InterGlobe Aviation, Uday Kotak, former managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Sudhir Mehta, chairman of Torrent Group, each saw around 9 percent rise in wealth from the March lows. Vikram Lal, founder of Eicher Motors, Shapoor Mistry and family, and Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India, saw around 8 percent rise in their wealth during the same period.

Azim Premji, founder of Wipro, Nusli Wadia, chairman of Britannia Industries, Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, and Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, saw their wealth rise 6 to 7 percent during the period.

Not all billionaires, however, shared in the recovery. Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies, saw his wealth erode 6 percent during the period, with his current wealth standing at $28.6 billion compared to $30.4 billion at the end of March. The decline came after HCL Technologies stock saw a sharp selloff following its March quarter earnings, weighed down by a weak revenue guidance of 1 to 4 percent growth for FY27 and a revenue miss in the fourth quarter of FY26.

Indian markets had witnessed a heavy selloff in March following the escalation of the conflict involving the US, Iran, and Israel, with crude oil surging past $100 per barrel. During this period, several global brokerages downgraded Indian markets and cut their Nifty targets amid expectations of slowing earnings. Some brokerages noted that while Indian market valuations corrected during this period, they were still not cheap enough to attract fresh buying interest from foreign investors.