Topping Asian Rich List 2006 is Lakshmi Mittal, valued at £14,881 million. Published by Asian radio station, Sunrise Radio and compiled by Dr Philip Beresford - author of the Sunday Times Rich List - the Asian Rich List 2006 finds the combined wealth of these 300 millionaires is more than £35 billion. Anurag Dikshit and Vikrant Bharagava of recently-floated online gambling site Party Gaming, make a new entry into the Asian Rich List as Gibraltar has been included in this year's geographical coverage.

The value of this year s Rich List stands at £35.3 billion. There are a total of 44 new entries, who together have a value of £4,336.4 million There are a total of 253 entrepreneurs over the age of 40. The youngest millionaire is 27-year-old Zahier Ahmed, born in August 1979, who is valued at £6m.

* Source The Sunday Times Rich List 2006.

LAKSHMI MITTAL

Lakshmi Mittal, 55, stunned the City in January with an audacious takeover bid for Arcelor, the world's second largest steel maker after Mittal Steel. Arcelor rejected the £12.7 billion offer while the governments of France and Luxembourg, where many of its plants are based, were also hostile. Mittal's aim is to create a world leader producing 115m tons of steel a year - about 11% of the market.

Mittal Steel, which is quoted on the American and Dutch Stock markets, is 88% controlled by the Mittal family and trusts. A week after the Arcelor bid, the family stake was worth £12.6 billion. London-based Mittal, who retains his Indian passport, paid a reputed £70m to Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One supremo, for a house in Kensington Palace Gardens. In 2004, he splashed out £30m on his daughter Vanisha's wedding. He is estimated to be worth more than £14.8 billion.

SRI & GOPI HINDUJA

The Hinduja brothers celebrated victory in New Delhi high court last year when they were cleared of accepting kickbacks from the Swedish arms firm Bofors to clinch a £750m deal to sell field guns to the Indian army in 1986. Subsequently many doors are opening and they have gone into Insurance and real estate, developing hundreds of acres of land in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madras and Bombay.

London-based Sir, 70 and Gopi, 66 are two of four brothers (the others are in Europe and India). They inherited a business empire from their late father that embraces oil, banking, telecommunications and trucking in India, Europe and the Middle East. The Hindujas are worth more than £3.6 billion.

ANURAG DIKSHIT

Dikshit, a computer programmer, was recruited in 1998 by Californian businesswomen Ruth Parasol, to write software for a fledgling Internet poker site. Party Gaming floated on the London stock market last year valued at £4.7 billion, making a fortune for Dikshit and his friend Vikrant Bhargava, the marketing director. The company showed nearly £372m profit on £601m sales in 2004. Dikshit lives in Gibraltar, where Party Gaming is based. He sold nearly £490m worth of shares in the float and retains a stake in Party gaming worth £1,214 billion.

ANIL AGARWAL

Higher zinc prices have pushed by the shares of Vedanta resources, the London-based metals group. The company's pre-tax profits more than doubled to close to £150m for the six months to the end of September 2005. Agarwal, 53, Vedanta's London-based founder, started out as a metals trader in his native India. In 2003 Vedanta floated on the London Stock Market, valuing Agarwal's stake at £537m. This has soared to £1.6billion and he has other interests.

THE JATANIA BROTHERS

The Jatania family bought Yardley, one of England's older cosmetics brands, last year for a reported £60m. It has sales of about £57m and is the first global name to the join the family stable, which includes 'Harmony' hairspray. The family is headed by Mike Jatania,41, and his brothers George 55, Vin 50 and Danny, 47. Their Lornamead company is moving its headquarters to Dubai from London, where the brothers are based. Valued conservatively against its quoted rivals, the company is worth £760m. The brothers have also built up a £90m property portfolio. The Jatanias are worth £850m as a family.

NARESH GOYAL

Naresh Goyal, 56, founded Jet Airways in 1993 and turned it into India's largest private airline before expanding into International Services. The company listed on the Indian stock market in March last year. Goyal commutes between Bombay and London, where his family lives. He is estimated to be worth £780m.

VIKRANT BHARGAVA

Gambling does not appear to be a mug's game for Indian-born Bhargava, 32, the marketing director of Internet poker firm Party Gaming. He is friends with fellow founder Anurag Dikshit, the software genius who designed the site, as they both graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology. Bhargava, who lives in Gibraltar where Party Gaming is based, confesses that he has never played a hand of poker in a real casino.

The company floated on the London Stock Exchange last June with a £4.7 billion valuation. Bhargava, who teamed up with entrepreneurs Russell De Leon and Ruth Parasol as the business took shape says "None of us could have predicted what has happened, it has grown faster than we ever thought possible. We've never had a dull day - it's been exciting and fun all the way". Bhargava sold shares worth £123m in the float and retains a holding worth £468m. Other wealth takes him to £592m.

LORD SWARAJ PAUL

The Caparo Group is looking to invest in the Indian economy. It will be a case of coming home for the steel and industrial group's Indian-born founder Paul, 75, who moved to England 40 years ago. One of his sons, Ambar, is expanding the family's Contemporary Hotels operation. The Caparo Group, owned by the Paul family trusts, is valued at £365m with at least £100m for Indian assets.

GULU LALVANI

Gulu Lalvani, 67, started the Binatone electronics firm when he as a Leeds student in 1956 and has been looking at floating the business. The group is estimated to be worth £350m with £100m for other assets.

BHIKHU & VIJAY PATEL

Brothers Bhikhu, 58, and Vijay 56, own the Essex-based Waymade Healthcare which is worth £394m. Property and other assets add £50m.

ASIAN RICH LIST ARCHIVE

Click here for the Asian Rich List 2005.
Click here for the Asian Rich List 2004.
Click here for the Asian Rich List 2003.
Click here for the Asian Rich List 2002.
Click here for the Asian Rich List 2001.

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