The ex-husband of the daughter of one of India's richest men has lost a London divorce court money battle.

City investment strategist Ankul Daga, 36, wanted a judge to order Aparna Bangur, 34, whose father is billionaire businessman KK Bangur, to hand him a £1 million lump following the breakdown of their decade-long marriage.

Mr Daga, who initially wanted £2.5 million, argued that Ms Bangur had assets of more than £2 million and would benefit from trusts containing more than £17 million.

But Mr Justice Holman has dismissed his claim after analysing evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge said Mr Daga earned £130,000 a year and did not "need" money from his ex-wife.

He also concluded that Ms Bangur, who works in public relations and earns about £40,000 a year, did not have access to assets of more than £2 million or access to millions held in trusts.

Mr Justice Holman said Mr Daga had "wiped out" £150,000 in savings and run up debts of more than £70,000 to pay for lawyers.

He said the case should serve as a "cautionary tale".

The judge said Mr Daga and Ms Bangur, who had met when students at Warwick University about 15 years ago and lived in London, had run up £650,000 in legal bills between them fighting over money.

He said they had spent about £1 million in total on litigation.

The judge said he would not order Mr Daga to cover any of his ex-wife's legal bills.

He said such an order would have a "crippling" effect and would not be fair.

A profile on www.forbes.com says Krishna Kumar Bangur, who is chairman of Graphite India and gave evidence at the trial, is worth about £1.3 billion.

By Brian Farmer