Reliance Industries head Mukesh Ambani, who has been propped up by a bull run on the Indian bourses, came a close second to London-based Mittal with a personal fortune of $49 billion.

His brother Anil Ambani, who heads Reliance Communications, India''''s second-ranked mobile carrier, was third with a net worth of $45 billion.

DLF chief Kushal Pal Singh is fourth on the India rich list with a net worth of $35 billion, making him the world''''s richest real estate developer.

Azim Premji dropped one spot to the fifth position this year while Kumar Birla and Tulsi Tanti slipped two places each.

Forbes said ten newcomers entered the top 40, including Gautam Adani, the richest new entrant at 13th with $6.7 billion.

Essar Group''''s Shashi and Ravi Ruia are the only new entrants in the list of the 10 richest Indians compiled by Forbes, while banker Uday Kotak jumped the most number of places among the top 40 billionaires.

The Ruias jumped five places to the 7th position with a net worth of $12 billion, while Kotak with $4.6 billion hopped 11 positions to the 16th rank.

Savitri Jindal with a net worth of $8.5 billion has leapfrogged 10 ranks to stand at 11th position and Jaiprakash Gaur advanced nine places in the list with $3.8 billion. The three saw their wealth soaring thanks to the booming stock market.

There are 10 new entrants in the top 40 - Gautam Adani at 13th, Anand Jain (19), Cyrus Poonawalla (22), Rakesh Wadhawan (26), Niranjan Hiranandani (31), L Madhusudhan Rao (33), Gautam Thapar (34), Vikas Oberoi (36), Anu Aga (38) and Gracias Saldanha (39).

"Twenty-nine people who returned to the list are richer than last year. The only exception is Rahul Bajaj, who is battling his younger sibling over dividing their empire and whose fortune was flat at 2.3 billion dollar," Forbes said.

The richest 40 Indians, according to magazine, are all billionaires, and together are the wealthiest such group in Asia.

"The Indian fortunes were helped by a roaring stock market which was up 53 per cent in the past year and a rupee that has appreciated 12 per cent. India now has 54 billionaires, 18 more than last year," Forbes said in a statement.