Sunday, April 9 2006 13:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has maintained his position as the richest Asian in Britain in 2006 with a fortune worth 14.8 billion pounds even as the wealth of the country's richest 300 Asians jumped by over 40 per cent in a year.

The total wealth of Asians in the UK has gone up from 24.9 billion pounds in 2005 to 35.5 billion pounds this year, an increase of 42 per cent, boosted by strong stock markets and the community's links with the booming Asian economies, according to Philip Beresford, author of 'The Sunday Times Rich List'.

Mittal, Chairman of Mittal Steel, the world's largest steel company, was worth 14.8 billion pounds in 2005 and maintained his position as the richest Asian in Britain in 2006 as well, according to a report in 'The Sunday Times'.

The wealth of the Sri Chand Hinduja, 70, and Gopi Chand Hinduja, 66 - Chairman and President respectively of the Hinduja Group - has more than doubled from 1.5 billion pounds last year to 3.6 billion pounds this year. They continue to be the second richest Asians in Britain.

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

34-year-old Anurag Dikshit, the co-founder of PartyGaming, the online poker company, has emerged as the third richest Asian in the UK with a fortune of more than 1.7 billion pounds. He lives in Gibraltar to take advantage of the favourable tax laws on gambling.

Anil Agarwal former scrap metal merchant

Next to Dikshit in the rich list is 53-year-old Anil Agarwal, a former scrap metal merchant. Agarwal, who lives in a 20-million-pound house in Mayfair, central London, heads the mining company Vedanta Resources.

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

Mike Jatania, 41, and his brother George Jatania, 55, who are into cosmetics industry, are the fifth richest Asians in the UK with wealth worth 850 million pounds.

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

Avtar Lit, chairman of Sunrise Radio, who has been included in the list with a fortune of 75 million pounds, 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."