Defying recession, Britain's super-rich continued to see their wealth rise with Indian-origin steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal topping the Sunday Times Rich List for 2010 for sixth consecutive year with a fortune of 22.45 billion pounds.
India-born mining magnate Anil Agarwal moved 60 places up to 10th position, thanks to rising share prices of mining group Vedanta Resources. His wealth jumped from 600 million
pounds to 4.1 billion pounds.
Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul, with a fortune of 550 million pounds in 2010 is the sixth richest Asian Millionaire and 115th richest in the UK.
Paul, 79, saw his Caparo car components-to-metals group push its turnover up to a record 861 million pounds in 2008.
High borrowing costs, however, turned a 6.4 million pound pre-tax profit into a 3 million pound loss. Paul's sons run the operation while he sits in the House of Lords, the report
said.
Many entrepreneurs, including Mittal, were hit by the economic downturn in 2009 but the collective fortunes of thetop 1,000 on the list have risen by 30 per cent in the past year to 333.5 billion pounds.
In the top 1,000, the number of billionaires rose from 10 to 53 in 2010.
Mittal, who owns steel major ArcelorMittal, saw his fortune double from 10.8 billion to 22.45 billion pounds, while Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich remains at second place at 7.4 billion pounds.
"Fortunes in Britain are soaring as the world recovers from the 2008-09 crash. Stock markets are up, the banks are back from the brink and economic confidence is blossoming,"said Philip Beresford, compiler of the list.
As a result, the collective wealth of the 1,000 multimillionaires in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List has climbed to 335.5 billion pounds, up 77.265 billion pounds on 2009, he said, adding this is a 29.9 per cent increase, easily the biggest annual rise in the 22 years of the Rich List.
The Duke of Westminster's wealth rose by 250 million pounds to 6.75 billion pounds and was placed in the third place.
Queen Elizabeth, who is Britain's 245th richest person, saw her personal fortune rise by 20 million to 290 million pounds.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, 20, is the highest- earning young actor with riches worth 42 million pounds.
The Sunday Times Rich List profiles the 1,000 wealthiest people in the UK and the 250 richest people in Ireland.
Surprisingly, the billionaire Hinduja Group,
led by S P Hinduja, has been left out of the list.
It also drew up a list of 50 richest in the world in which Mukesh and Anil Ambani of India are jointly listed as the 5th richest with a fortune of 27.2 billion pounds.
Mittal figures ninth and Wipro founder Azim Premji is placed at 31st position in the list with a 10.8 billion pounds.
This sharp improvement comes ahead of a general election looming in just 11 days.
With hefty public spending cuts and tax rises needed to cut government borrowing - whichever party wins power - the notion of the rich recovering so quickly from the near meltdown could become a potent political issue in the final
days of the campaign, The Sunday Times said.
It noted that the speed and scope of the turnround in rich fortunes has been remarkable.
"Take our No 1, Lakshmi Mittal, the steel tycoon. A year ago, the share price for his ArcelorMittal operation was languishing and his fortune was 10.8 billion pounds. The shares have recovered sharply and he is now at 22.45 billion,
more than double," it said.
Mittal, boss of the ArcelorMittal, world's steel maker, reckons that the steel business has rebounded from the worst of the decline in 2008 and early 2009, and is recovering.