Investors in India are a worried lot. With bears overpowering the markets, the companies run by India's five richest, including the two Ambanis, have lost a whopping Rs 5 trillion in market value in the current bear phase that began early this year.
In January 2008, India had 522 billionaires. Today, the number has dwindled to 421. It's not just the richest who are battered by the bloodbath at the bourses. Many investors have lost lakhs overnight.
The cumulative market value of the companies belonging to the groups led by the five wealthiest of the country, Ambani siblings Mukesh and Anil, real estate magnate Kushal Pal Singh, software czar Azim Premji and telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal, fell to about Rs 8.5 trillion in June.
This marks a significant fall from over Rs 13 trillion on January 10 - when market benchmark Sensex hit a life-time high of 21,206.77 points before going southward.
The Sensex has plunged more than 7,000 points from its peak in January.
Image: A worried Indian investor watches share prices on a ticker outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai | Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
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