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A surging stock market has Indians knocking on the door of the global billionaires club like never before and swelling the number of 10-figure personal fortunes in the Asia Pacific region beyond the 100 mark.

Lakshmi Mittal
© AFP/File Manpreet Romana

In its annual ranking of the world's richest people released on Thursday, Forbes Magazine labelled India as the "rising star" in the firmament of the fabulously wealthy.

"While the United States still dominates this list, 2006 really belongs to some of the more emerging markets, and no country more than India," said Forbes associate editor Luisa Kroll.

With its stock market up more than 50 percent in the past 12 months, India provided 10 new faces to this year's Forbes roster, more debutantes than any other country apart from the United States.

The influx brought the total number of Indian billionaires to 23, with a combined net worth of 99 billion dollars -- an increase of 60 percent from the year before.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal was not only the richest Indian but also the wealthiest Asian, taking the number-five slot on the global ranking with a fortune estimated at 23.5 billion dollars.

The only other Asian in the top 20 was Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, who jumped 12 places from the previous year to 10th position with 18.8 billion dollars.

Li Ka-shing
© AFP/File Antony Dickson

Asia-Pacific as a whole accounted for 115 of the 793 billionaires on the 2006 Forbes list, with a collective worth of 364 billion dollars.

Japan had the most billionaires in the region with 27, although their net worth diminished 11 percent from 2005 to below that of their Hong Kong and Indian counterparts.

Meanwhile, the sleeping giant that is China twitched a little to increase its presence on the list from two to eight, led by Larry Rong Zhijian, the head of the Citi Pacific conglomerate, with a fortune of 1.7 billion dollars.

The richest man living in China was an Australian citizen, Chinese-born Shi Zhenrong, a solar power entrepreneur who debuted on this year's list with an impressive 2.2 billion dollars.

Since listing in December on the New York Stock Exchange, Shi's Suntech Power Holdings based in the city of Wuxi, has seen its share price nearly double, giving the company a market value of 5.5 billion dollars -- the largest in the world for a manufacturer of solar cells.

Among the notable Indian newcomers were Tulsi Tanti (1.4 billion dollars) a former textile trader whose alternative energy company owns Asia's largest wind farm.

Then there was liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya (one billion), India's largest real estate developer Kushal Pal Singh (five billion), and Anurag Dixit (3.3 billion), an online gaming mogul who made his fortune when he and two Americans took their PartyGaming poker company public in London last June.

Indian software magnate Azim Premji was the third richest Asian and 25th in the global ranking with a fortune of 13.3 billion dollars.

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