THE wealth of Britain’s richest 300 Asians has jumped by more than 40% in a year, writes Abul Taher.

The research, compiled by Philip Beresford, author of The Sunday Times Rich List, finds their total wealth has gone from £24.9 billion to £35.5 billion, an increase of 42%, boosted by strong stock markets and the community’s links with the booming Asian economies.

The list, published next week by Sunrise Radio, also shows that the number of billionaire entries has doubled to four.

Those with 10-figure fortunes include Anil Agarwal, 53, a former scrap metal merchant. Agarwal, who lives in a £20m house in Mayfair, central London, is the fourth richest Asian and heads the mining company Vedanta Resources.

His wealth has more than doubled from £620m last year to £1.68 billion this year. His fortune has been swollen by the appetite of Chinese industry for zinc, one of the main metals his companies produce.

Just above him is Anurag Dikshit, 34, the co-founder of PartyGaming, the online poker company, with a fortune of more than £1.7 billion. He lives in Gibraltar to take advantage of the favourable tax laws on gambling.

Above him, brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja, whose interests range from breweries to financial services, have seen their wealth increase by £1.5 billion to £3.6 billion this year.

They remain at No 2 behind Lakshmi Mittal, the tycoon who dominates the world steel industry. He has a fortune of £14.8 billion.

Meena Pathak, 49, is one of the richest women on the list this year. The queen of the Patak’s spices empire, she and her husband Kirit, 53, are both worth an estimated £46m. Pathak, a one-time model from Bombay, now dreams of selling curry to Indians in India.

Avtar Lit, chairman of Sunrise Radio, and himself included in the list with a fortune of £75m, said: “This year, the Rich List is showing Britain’s Asians are increasingly taking part in global business. Those in property are looking for opportunities abroad in places like Dubai and Bahrain. There seems to be terrific traffic between Asia and the UK at the moment.”

Beresford said: “Everybody has just got richer this year, because the world has got richer.

“The stock markets have been booming, and property has been booming. The rich generally have struck gold. Globally there is a boom, because of China and India, and this has been felt everywhere.”

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