Weakness in ₹, broader equity market shrinks India’s billionaire club in 2025

But a robust IPO market leads to emergence of 9 new promoter billionaires

- KRISHNA KANT

India's billionaire promoters' club shrank in 2025 for the first time in three years, as a selloff in mid and smallcap stocks eroded market capitalisations and a weaker rupee reduced dollar-denominated wealth.

The number of dollar billionaire promoters fell 13.7 per cent to 176 in 2025, from a record 204 at the end of December 2024.

Their combined net worth declined 5 per cent year-on-year to $984.2 billion, from $1,036.2 billion at the end of December 2024. The billionaire club last contracted in 2022, when numbers fell to 126 from a then record high of 142 at the end of 2021. The 2025 contraction marks the steepest decline in both the number of billionaire promoters and their aggregate wealth since 2012.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was up 9 per cent last year, but gains were uneven. The BSE Midcap index was barely in the green, while the BSE Smallcap index was down around 7 per cent since the end of December 2024.

Over the same period, the rupee has depreciated around 5 per cent against the US dollar, weakening from an average of 84.93 in December 2024 to 90.03 in December 2025.