Market Rout Dents Wealth of IT, Real Estate, and Aviation Billionaires

India’s billionaires from the information technology, real estate, and aviation sectors have been among the hardest hit during the recent selloff in Indian markets so far in 2026.

Data analysed by Moneycontrol shows that in the IT sector, Azim Premji, promoter of Wipro, and Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies, were among those witnessing significant wealth erosion. In the real estate sector, DLF promoter and the country’s wealthiest property developer KP Singh, and Macrotech Developers founder Mangal Prabhat Lodha saw sharp declines in their net worth during the ongoing correction.

Rahul Bhatia, co-founder of IndiGo Airlines, was also among those seeing wealth erosion following a surge in global crude oil prices driven by escalating tensions between the US-Israel and Iran, along with operational disruptions in the Middle East.

KP Singh saw the biggest decline, with his wealth falling over 23 percent so far in 2026 to $11 billion. He was followed by Azim Premji and Ravi Jaipuria, founder and chairman of RJ Corp, whose wealth declined about 21 percent each during the period.

Mangal Prabhat Lodha ranked fourth, while Rahul Bhatia ranked fifth among those experiencing the biggest wealth erosion, with their wealth declining nearly 19 percent and 18 percent respectively. Shiv Nadar ranked sixth, with his wealth falling about 17 percent during the same period.

Real estate stocks have remained under pressure in 2026, tracking broader weakness in equity markets, while uncertainty surrounding the IT sector has weighed on sentiment. Concerns that sustained stress in information technology stocks could spill over into real estate demand and valuations have further impacted the sector.

IT stocks have also been hit by concerns around artificial intelligence-led disruption. Anthropic has said that its AI tools could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of modernising legacy software systems, an area that has traditionally been a key revenue driver for IT services firms. The Nifty IT index has declined about 23.5 percent so far in 2026, while the Nifty Realty index has fallen about 19.1 percent.

Among other billionaires, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal saw his wealth decline about 17 percent to $24.7 billion, while Shapoor Mistry’s group saw net worth fall about 16 percent to $29.7 billion.

Uday Kotak, former managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, saw his wealth decline about 16 percent to $13.7 billion. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani saw his wealth decline about 15 percent, while Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, saw his wealth fall about 10 percent.

Vikram Lal, founder of Eicher Motors, saw his wealth decline about 9.4 percent, while Inder Jaisinghani, chairman and managing director of Polycab, saw his wealth fall about 8 percent.

Nusli Wadia of Britannia Industries saw his wealth decline about 8 percent, while Murali Divi, founder of Divi’s Laboratories, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, and Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India, saw their wealth decline about 6 percent each.

Despite the broader correction in Indian and global markets, a few Indian billionaires saw gains in their wealth. Torrent Group’s Samir Mehta and Sudhir Mehta saw their wealth increase about 8.5 percent each during the correction. Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, saw his wealth rise about 3.1 percent, while Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, saw his net worth rise about 3 percent so far.

Indian markets have seen a sharp correction after the escalation of the US-Israel-Iran conflict. Since the start of the year, India’s benchmark Sensex and Nifty have fallen about 12.5 percent and 11.4 percent respectively, while broader markets have also weakened. The BSE MidCap 150 index has declined about 10.22 percent, while the BSE SmallCap 250 index has dropped around 12.3 percent during the same period, reflecting widespread selling across market segments.