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India's Billionaires Lag in Innovation as Global Wealth Shifts to Tech

Summary

  • India's top billionaires' wealth comes from traditional sectors like energy, infrastructure, and steel
  • Global leaders like Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg have built fortunes on tech innovation
  • India must evolve from spotting opportunities to creating breakthroughs that shape the future
India's Billionaires Lag in Innovation as Global Wealth Shifts to Tech

According to the Forbes Global Billionaires list as of November 14, 2025, India's top three richest individuals, Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, and Savitri Jindal, have built their wealth primarily through energy, infrastructure, and steel. In contrast, global leaders like Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg have amassed their fortunes by driving technological innovation and scientific breakthroughs.

This comparison highlights a critical challenge facing India: the nation must evolve from simply leveraging existing opportunities to creating entirely new industries and markets. As global wealth increasingly shifts toward innovation-led sectors, India risks falling behind if it continues to rely on traditional, resource-driven success stories.

To address this, India must prioritize investment in research, development, and deep-tech entrepreneurship. Breakthroughs in fields like clean energy, biotechnology, AI, and quantum computing will be essential for the country to produce the next generation of global leaders. This will require stronger collaboration between government, academia, and industry, as well as a culture that embraces experimentation and failure.

Disclaimer: This story has been auto-aggregated and auto-summarised by a computer program. This story has not been edited or created by the Feedzop team.
According to the article, India's top billionaires like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani have built their wealth mainly from traditional sectors like energy and infrastructure, while global tech leaders like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have amassed fortunes through technological innovation. The article suggests that India must now prioritize investment in research, development, and deep-tech entrepreneurship to create the next generation of global leaders.
The article states that India must evolve from simply leveraging existing opportunities to creating entirely new industries and markets. This will require stronger collaboration between government, academia, and industry, as well as a culture that embraces experimentation and failure, similar to the model that has produced companies like Bell Labs, Apple, and Tesla in the US.
The article highlights that India's R&D expenditure is far below that of countries like South Korea, the US, and China. To catch up, India needs to incentivize firms to invest in R&D, allow academic institutions more autonomy to partner with private firms, and create a financial environment that rewards long-term risk-taking and the commercialization of research.

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