Lakshmi Mittal leads the Indian list

With 36 billionaires, India has overtaken Japan's 24 billionaires, after two decades of Japan topping the Asian rich list.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal leads the Indian billionaire club, with a net worth of $32bn.

Globally, there are a record 946 billionaires, up from 793 last year.

"It was a sizzling year in Asia. Both India and China saw huge gains, " Forbes associate editor Luisa Kroll was reported as saying by the AFP news agency.

China and Hong Kong together have a total of 41 billionaires, according to the list.

Lakshmi Mittal, 56, is the fifth richest person in the world, according to the magazine.

The other Indians in the list include Mukesh and Anil Ambani of Reliance, Wipro chief Azim Premji, Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal and Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.

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India has recorded impressive economic growth in the past few years, though critics say the poor have been largely left out of the process.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates holds the top spot for the 13th year in a row in the world list of billionaires with a net worth of $56bn.