Hinduja brothers edge out Lakshmi Mittal to top UK rich list

The Hinduja brothers have emerged as the richest people in the UK, which boasts of 102 billionaires, including Lord Swraj Paul and four others of Indian-origin.

London-based Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, who have a fortune of 11.9 billion pounds, up by an astonishing 1.3 billion pounds in the past year, edged out steel tycoon Lakshmi N. Mittal and Russian magnate Alisher Usmanov, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

The Hinduja brothers, who run the multinational Hinduja Group conglomerate with interests across automotive, real estate and oil, moved up from third position last year to top the UK's billionaire charts this year.

The list - a full version of which will be released May 18 - also includes non-resident Indian industrialists (NRI) like Lakshmi Mittal and family, Prakash Lohia, Paul and family, Anil Agarwal and Ajay Kalsi and family among the London's 72 billionaires.

Mittal also edged one position upwards to the third rank with 10.25 billion pounds even as Russian magnate Alisher Usmanov, who topped the list till last year, fell to the second place.

Last year, the Hindujas sold 49-per cent stake in Saudi Arabian lubricants maker Petromin for more than 200 million pounds. Property investment in India has added 200 million pounds. The family's IndusInd bank is capitalised at about 2.7 billion pounds. In Britain, Hinduja Automotive turned over about 1.5 billion pounds in 2012-13, the newspaper said.

In reference to the Kolkata-based Mittal, the newspaper highlighted a final bounce in fortunes after a few years of dip.

After a tough few years in the steel industry, Mittal is seeing a glimmer of light. Arcelor Mittal shares have recovered making his stake worth 6.65 billion pounds, up 700 million pounds in a year, it said.

Mittal's brother-in-law and India-born textiles and plastics tycoon Lohia is ranked as Britain's 46th richest man with around 2.11 billion pounds.

Leading NRI industrialist and Caparo chief Paul is ranked Britain's 48th richest with an estimated wealth worth around 2 billion pounds.

Vedanta Resources chief Agarwal, at 50th rank, and Indus Gas supremo Kalsi, at 102nd, complete the Indian presence among the London-based billionaires.