Mittal is Britain's richest man

London-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal will be named Britain's richest man this weekend with a personal fortune estimated at about £14 billion.

Indian-born Mr Mittal's enormous wealth - enough to pay for about half of Britain's annual defence budget - has rocketed in the past year.

It will see the Labour donor easily leapfrog the likes of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and retail entrepreneur Philip Green to the top of the Sunday Times rich list.

Mr Mittal's fortune has soared with the value of his Mittal Steel empire, which will this month become the world's largest producer thanks to a massive takeover of a rival American company.

In February the 54-year-old tycoon bagged a £140 million dividend from shareholdings in the steel group that he and his family dominate.

This is modest compared with last November's £1.1 billion cash payout from the part of the steel empire he then privately owned, but it is his 88 per cent stake in the new enlarged Mittal Steel that is the foundation of his fabulous wealth.

However, the Labour party is unlikely to see any more of Mr Mittal's burgeoning fortune.

After a cash-for-favours row erupted fol lowing his £125,000 grant to the party three years ago, sources say the famously private Mr Mittal is eager to keep out of the limelight, and he won't welcome the attention his title as richest man will bring.

A month ago he declined to comment after Forbes magazine estimated he was now the world's third richest man, behind Microsoft's Bill Gates and investment guru Warren Buffet.

"He is not someone who likes to be put in the spotlight for this kind of thing, he is much more interested in the steel business," said his spokesman. For a man who says it is not money that drives him, his spending has been conspicuously lavish.

Most notably he is thought to have paid £30 million for a sixday wedding extravaganza in Versailles for his daughter Vanisha Bhatia, including Kylie Minogue and a host of Bollywood stars. He also snapped up London's most expensive house, paying fellow billionaire Bernie Ecclestone about £70 million for a 12-bedroom home in Kensington Palace Gardens.

He already owned a far larger property in Hampstead, and although he holds an Indian passport and the business is registered in Rotterdam, he intends to stay in his adopted country.

"He has no plans to move, his global base is here. He is in the middle of time zones which is good for the worldwide business, and he likes it here," said the spokesman.

His two children are closely involved in the business. His son Aditya is the firm's president and Lakshmi's heir apparent, while his daughter is a director.

Mr Mittal was b orn in Rajasthan in a village with no electricity. His family moved to Calcutta and at 21 he took a job in his father's small steel mill, before heading for eastern Europe where he bought decrepit state steel businesses.