Asia Richest Woman Is Now An Indian With A Fortune Of $18 Billion: Meet 72-year-old Savitri Jindal

She took over her husband Om Prakash Jindal's steel and power conglomerate after his sudden death in 2005.

Today, she's not only the richest woman in India but in Asia. Savitri Jindal is a simple and humble looking woman and the only woman in the top 10 of Forbes' list of richest Indians in 2021. Jindal, 72, surpassed Yang Haiyan, who lost over 52% of her net worth in China¡¯s real estate sector rout.

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Dramatic fall for Yang

Yang, who has an $11.3 billion fortune, earlier had a fortune of about $24 billion, but that was in 2021. After the real estate crisis, she lost a whopping $11 billion of wealth this year and also lost her rank in the billionaire's index to Jindal. She also slipped below fellow Chinese tycoon Fan Hongwei, whose wealth derives from chemical-fiber company Hengli Petrochemical Co.

It's been a dramatic fall for Yang, who in 2005 inherited her father's stake in the real estate developer, becoming one of the youngest billionaires on the planet. For the past five years she's been Asia's richest woman, reflecting the rapid growth of China's property sector.

Yang Huiyan/facebook

Savitri¡¯s rise in billionaire's index

Savitri¡¯s net worth has more than tripled from $4.8 billion a few months ago to $17.7 billion currently. Her wealth saw a roller-coaster ride as it dipped 50% in 2019 and 2020. From $8.8 billion in 2018, her net worth dropped to $5.9 billion in 2019 and then to $4.8 billion in 2020.

But today, she has a net worth of $18 billion thanks to her conglomerate Jindal Group, which is involved in industries including metals and power generation. The company is the third-largest producer of steel in India and also operates in cement, energy and infrastructure.

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Among India's top 10 richest

She entered the list of India¡¯s top 10 richest people in 2021 when her fortune touched $18 billion in 2021. She has been consistently ranked India¡¯s richest woman by Forbes for the past few years. She is followed by Biocon¡¯s Kiran Mazumdar and Crishna Godrej.

Jindal is also the 10th-richest person in the country of about 1.4 billion. She became the chairwoman of the Jindal Group shortly after her husband, founder OP Jindal, died in a helicopter crash in 2005.

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