The history of Anil Agarwal from Patna in Bihar is barely 35 years old. His company Vedanta did well only because it bought over old mines and companies in the red at dirt-cheap prices and then converted them into profit-making units. It is worth remembering that during the NDA regime, Agarwal had acquired Balco for a mere Rs 500 crore. He has his own mines in Tasmania, too. His company Vedanta is registered in London, where he is the second-richest Indian. He may stammer a little while speaking English but he has a lot of influence over the British government. Maybe that is the reason Vedanta acquired Cairn Oil Company so easily. Cairn has oil fields in Rajasthan and Krishna Godavari Basin. If Vedanta does enter the oil fields business, it will prove to be a bigger player than Ambani’s Reliance. This is the only ranking where Ambani has an edge over Anil Agarwal.