International research agency Hurun on Tuesday released its Hurun India Rich List 2017 report. With a staggering 58 per cent jump in his net worth, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Rs 2,57,900 crore wealth is 50 per cent more than the GDP of Yemen. Storming into Top 10 for the first time, Patanjali's Acharya Balkrishna has become the 8th richest person in the country after 173 per cent rise in his wealth to Rs 70,000 crore.

Balkrishna owns close to 94 per cent of Patanjali Ayurved. The 44-year-old CEO of Patanjali has pushed the company's revenues at a rapid pace. Balkrishna has not only encashed upon Baba Ramdev's huge base of followers but also attracted Indian consumers by hitting the 'swadeshi' idea. Balkrishna heads around 34 companies and three trusts associated with Patanjali brand.

Patanjali has secured a second place in Indian FMCG market share in under 5 years, the report said.

"It is rare to find a country with such a dominant richest person (Mukesh Ambani) whose wealth is thrice more than that of the no.2 in the list. We have never seen such a wide margin between the richest and the second richest in big countries that include USA, China, UK, Russia and so on," said Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher, Hurun Report Global.

"The total number of rich list entrants increased 6 times since we launched the list six years ago; a good indication that Indian entrepreneurs are coming of age with global ambitions," Hoogewerf added.

Hurun India Rich List 2017 had 302 new faces. The sixth edition of the Hurun India Rich List 2017 saw 617 individuals with a cutoff of Rs 1,000 crores, compared to 339 last year. The cut off for the Top 100 has more than doubled to Rs 8,400 crore since 2013, it said.

Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi retained the second place despite shares of his flagship company going down by 36 per cent. With wealth increase of 320 per cent, Radhakishan Damani, the new retail king, of Dmart is the biggest gainer in Hurun India Rich List 2017.

The report credited better than expected corporate results in 2017 for offsetting the impact of demonetisation. Pharma and FMCG sector with their stellar performance doubled the number of entrants to 79 and 63 respectively. Pharmaceuticals dominate with 13% of the list, followed by FMCG and Chemical & Petrochemicals with 10% and 6% respectively.

Eklavya Juneja of Mankind Pharma is the youngest person in the list. Juneja owns 12% of Mankind Pharma which was founded by father Rajeev Juneja. Hurun India Rich List has eight self-made women this year, compared to two in last year.

"The market capitalization of all listed companies is now equivalent to 84 per cent of India's nominal GDP which is the highest in emerging markets. This year, we have expanded the list to highlight the success stories of some of the emerging entrepreneurs" said Anas Rahman Junaid, Hurun Report India, Managing Director and Chief Researcher.

With 182 individuals, Mumbai is the capital for India's super-rich, followed by New Delhi (117) and Bengaluru (51). Ahmedabad broke into top 5 with 26 new entrants. With 22 and 11 India Rich Listers, Chennai and Kanpur respectively breaks into top 10 cities of residence for Hurun India Rich Listers. Number of dollar billionaires in India also increased to 136 from 126 last year, the report said.

The combined wealth of India's richest is a staggering $640 billion, equating to 1/4th of India's GDP last year and similar to the GDPs of Switzerland ($660bn), and combined GDP of South Africa ($317bn) & Israel ($340bn).