The Hinduja brothers, Sri and Gopi, are the richest Asians in the UK, according to the new edition of The Sunday Times Rich List. 

The 160-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in Britain and is celebrating its 30th anniversary issue. There are 83 Asians among this year’s richest 1,000.
 
Despite dropping to number two overall in The Sunday Times’ Rich List, the Hinduja brothers continue to prosper with their industry and finance-related businesses. 

Their biggest successes over the past year have been their Indian car manufacturer Ashok Leyland and the Mumbai-based IndusInd Bank, the share prices of which have risen respectively by 49% and 27%.

 Their main British company, Hinduja Automotive, turned over nearly £2.7bn in 2016-17. Other UK assets include Careline, an outsourcing business, and the bus maker Optare. 

The teetotal and vegetarian brothers have a palatial home in Carlton House Terrace, overlooking St James's Park in central London, consisting of four interconnected, and expensively renovated, Georgian houses, valued at some £250m.
 
The highest new entry in the Asian Rich List is Indian-born Bavagathu Shetty. 

He founded the New Medical Centre (NMC) in the United Arab Emirates with his wife as the only doctor working for him. 

The £6.33bn NMC now sees 2m patients a year and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Shetty owns 19.43% of it. He also owns Travelex, the foreign exchange giant founded by Lloyd Dorfman, acquiring it four years ago for £1bn. Shetty is reported to be preparing to float his holding company Finablr, which controls Travelex and other operations, in London. Passionate cricket fan Shetty ran the Abu Dhabi Cricket Club from its creation in 1989 until 2006. 
 
Cash & Carry business B&M has been the key asset for the Arora brothers over the years and is integral in seeing their wealth increase to £380m this year. 

Cheap booze, chocolate and toys have driven up sales at 560 B&M UK stores, 69 of which are leased from family members or associates, and there are 80 more outlets in Germany. Simon, Bobby and Robin have sold shares totalling £910m, including £230m last June. They retain a stake worth £875m, up £255m in a year, and hold property in the UK and Far East.
 
Robert Watts, the Compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “The rise of Asia entrepreneurs on the Sunday Times Rich List is one of the most exciting developments we’ve seen on the Rich List in recent years. 

“Our first Rich List in 1989 featured just a handful of people from Britain's ethnic minorities - so the rise of successful entrepreneurs from these communities has been extremely rapid. 

“It’s striking that’s the Asian talent we’re finding is in all quarters of the economy: retail, fashion, hotels and pharmaceuticals to name but a few.” 
 
The Asian list demonstrates how successful these business people have been with accumulated wealth among the top 20 of £82.8bn and wealth increase of more than £11bn. 
 
Just three of the top 20 have seen their wealth fall during the past year. One of them, Iranian-born Farhad Moshiri, 63, is the latest billionaire to invest heavily in football. 

He has spent more than £270m at Everton since buying a near-50% holding in the Premier League club in 2016 for £87.5m, without much payback in results on the pitch. The Monaco resident also has assets including Metalloinvest, a Russian metals operation, and telecoms company MegaFon, which has seen its share price fall and ultimately he sees a wealth decrease of £465m. 
 

Richest Asians in the UK and where they are in national list
2 Sri and Gopi Hinduja Industry and finance, £20.644bn, Up £4.444bn
4 David and Simon Reuben, Property and internet, £15.096bn, Up £1.096bn
5 Lakshmi Mittal and family, Steel, £14.667bn, Up £1.438bn
25 Sri Prakash Lohia, Textiles and plastics, £5.159bn Up £1.182bn
43 Sir Anwar Pervez and family, Cash and carry, £3.095bn, Up £145m
44 Samuel Tak Lee and family    Property    £3.037bn    Up £301m
59 Bavauthu Shetty    Healthcare and foreign exchange, £2.383bn, New entry
60 Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora    Discount stores, £2.3bn, Up £380m
74 Anil Agarwal, Mining, £1.85bn    Down £150m
75 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Pharmaceuticals    £1.756bn    Up £606m
90= Lord Paul and family, Industry    £1.5bn Up £840m
93 Vladimir Kim, Mining, £1.435bn    Up £790m
96= Navin and Varsha Engineer, Pharmaceuticals, £1.41bn Up £210m
99  Farhad Moshiri, Investment and football, £1.385bn Down £465m
105= Raj, Tony and Harpal Matharu and family, Property and hotels    £1.3bn Up £283m
113 Zameer Choudrey and family, Cash and carry and pharmaceuticals    £1.207bn No change
115= Christina Ong and family, Retailing and hotels, £1.2bn    Down £96m
120= Nadhmi Auchi, Finance, £1.175bn    No change
126= Mohsin and Zuber Issa, Fuel distribution, £1.1bn    Up £100m
131  Jasminder Singh and family, Hotels, £1.064bn Up £29m