£500m boost for Asian rich list

TOP-EARNING British Asians have increased their combined wealth by £500m in the last 12 months, according to a new list published today. Such is their success, even as the British economy slowed last year, the annual rich list has had to expand to accommodate the new money - and several names have shot to prominence.

These include 28-year-old Nasa Khan of Harrow, who owns a company which produces mobile phone accessories and has rocketed 102 places on the wealth league to number 76. He is estimated to be worth £26.7m, and is one of only six under-30s on the list.

Gulshan Bhatia, 69, whose personal wealth is estimated at £40m, is one of the few women on the list and the 42nd wealthiest Asian in the country. Owner of the Great Western Royal hotel in London's Paddington, she shuns ostentatious displays of wealth and refuses to use mobile phones or computers. She was just 12 when she left school and couldn't speak English when she came here in 1976.

Among the biggest movers is Dr Avtar Lit who owns the UK's most popular Asian radio station, Sunrise Radio. He increased his wealth from £60m to £100m to become the ninth richest Asian in London, up from 26 last year. Mike and George Jatania, of cosmetics firm Lornamead International, saw their wealth rise from £300m to £548m, pushing them up one spot to third in the national list.

The Asian Xpress Rich List, compiled by Dr Philip Beresford, details the fortunes of 275 British Asian millionaires - up on the 250 documented last year. Together they are worth about £8.8bn.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, whose donation to the Labour Party sparked the Mittalgate affair, still tops the list, although his personal fortune has fallen from £1bn to £900m. The Hinduja brothers, Sri and Gopi, who were involved in another Labour Party embarrassment - the cash-for-passports scandal - are number two for the second year running and their combined wealth has risen from £700m to £800m.

Sarwar Ahmed, who publishes the list, said: 'Most people on it have increased their wealth, despite the fact that it was a bad year for business on the whole and we were expecting the value of the list to go down. Even taking into account that there are 275 people on the list year instead of 250 like last year, the total value is still £500m higher and there are also 45 new entries. A lot of Asian people have money tied up in property and are much more likely to invest in bricks and mortar than stocks and shares. Around 99% of them do not buy leasehold, only freehold, which underlies the shrewdness they have in investments.'

Dr Bhikhu Parekh, who chaired the Commission for Racial Equality study, The Future Of Multi-ethnic Britain, believes this year's list demonstrates the extent of the Asian community's integration into the wider population. He said: 'The presence of Asian people has traditionally been most noticeable in trade and commerce, in fact 70% of newsagents are owned by Asian people. They have been increasing their impact in the world of manufacturing, and now making inroads into financial institutions, which marks one of the final stages of development for any community.'

Dr Parekh believes the success of many British Asians is due to a commitment to education and a willingness to save. He said: 'The Indian middle class are big savers, putting away around 30% of their income, and also tend to invest heavily in education. By and large most immigrants, regardless of where they are from, have a determination to succeed having arrived here in pursuit of a better life.'

Mr Ahmed believes London has a special draw for Asian millionaires - about 2,000 live in the capital. He said: 'Apart from the fact that it is the financial centre of the country, much of London's attraction lies in the social scene here - if you go to clubs like Tramp on a Saturday night, it's full of Asians. When it's too hot in Delhi, everyone comes here and when it's too cold here everyone goes back to India.'