Among 54 Indian billionaires identified by Forbes magazine, there are seven real estate developers with a net worth of over a billion dollar each.
A year ago, there were just three billionaires from this sector - K P Singh, Ramesh Chandra and Rajan Raheja, who have now been joined by Rakesh Wadhawan of newly listed HDIL, Niranjan Hiranandani of London-listed Hirco, Parsvnath Developers' Pradeep Jain and Omaxe's Rohtas Goel.
Singh, the wealthiest in this space, has been ranked as the fourth richest Indian with a net worth of $35 billion, according to 'Forbes' India's 40 Rich List' for 2007.
"Kushal Pal Singh is fourth on the 2007 India Rich List with a net worth of 35 billion dollars, making him the world's richest real estate developer," Forbes said.
Singh's wealth appreciated over 250 per cent after his company, DLF, went public in June this year and the stock has surged 60 per cent since then, it added.
Unitech's Ramesh Chandra ranks 8th with a net worth of $11.6 billion, followed by Wadhawan at the 26th spot with a wealth of $2.35 billion.
Raheja and Hiranandani, real estate developers from the financial capital of India - Mumbai, rank 30th and 31st with a net worth of $2.15 billion and $2.1 billion respectively.
Although there are 54 billionaires in India according to Forbes, 14 of them could not make the cut for the 'India's 40 Richest' list which required a minimum wealth of $1.6 billion.
Pradeep Jain of Parsvnath Developers ranks 46th with $1.25 billion net worth, while Rohtas Goel of Omaxe is positioned at 48th place with $1.2 billion. Parsvnath and Omaxe are based in India's capital New Delhi.
Of the seven real estate companies that have entered the Forbes' list, DLF, Omaxe and HDIL got listed in the stock exchanges this year, while Parsvnath entered the stock market last year.
