Dubai is no longer just a stopover for wealthy Indians. It is increasingly becoming a home and business base. The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 shows that three of the year’s biggest new entrants now live in Dubai. Their presence tell us the growing appeal of the emirate among India’s wealthy business community.
Renuka Jagtiani of Dubai-based Landmark Group is the highest-ranked new entrant on the entire M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026. She ranks 36th with wealth of INR 70,500 crore. Darshan Hiranandani of Yotta follows with wealth of INR 37,900 crore, while Ravi Pillai of RP Group enters the list with INR 37,300 crore. All three are among the top 10 new entrants on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026, and all three are based in Dubai.
A city, not just a stopover
Dubai has attracted Indian entrepreneurs for years because of its location, business environment and access to markets across the Gulf and Africa. This year’s M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 shows that this trend is growing. Eight of the top 10 new entrants on the list live outside India. Three of them are based in Dubai. This makes Dubai one of the biggest overseas bases for new Indian wealth on this year’s list.
The larger numbers also show the rise of Indian wealth outside the country. The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 has 156 people living outside India, compared with 101 a year earlier. The number of residents in the United Arab Emirates has increased from 22 to 31. The US remains the biggest overseas base, with the number of residents rising from 48 to 90. However, the increase in the UAE is notable, especially considering its smaller base.
Dubai accounts for much of the UAE’s presence on the list. The three new names are, Renuka Jagtiani’s entry is the biggest among the three. Jagtiani heads Landmark Group, the retail company that has expanded across the Gulf and other international markets. Her position on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 shows the scale of wealth that large Indian-origin businesses in the Gulf can create.
Darshan Hiranandani represents a newer area of business. His wealth comes from Yotta, a data infrastructure company. Ravi Pillai represents a more established path for Indian entrepreneurs in the Gulf. His RP Group has interests in construction, hospitality and healthcare, particularly in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf markets. The three have a combined wealth of nearly INR 1.46 lakh crore. All three business groups have been built over several decades.
Other wealthy Indians in Dubai
Jagtiani, Hiranandani and Pillai are not the only Indian-origin wealthy individuals based in Dubai. PNC Menon and his family, who built Sobha into a major real estate company, are also based in Dubai. They have wealth of INR 46,600 crore, according to the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026. Yusuff Ali MA of Lulu Group, who is based in nearby Abu Dhabi, is among the top 10 non-resident Indians on the list, with wealth of INR 73,400 crore. Pritviraj Jindal of JSW Steel is also listed as a Dubai resident this year.
These names show the range of businesses that have created wealth among Indian-origin entrepreneurs in the Gulf. Their businesses span retail, real estate, construction, infrastructure, healthcare and metals.
Why Dubai is attracting Indian entrepreneurs
Dubai gives several advantages to wealthy entrepreneurs and business owners. The UAE has no personal income tax. It also has a currency linked to the US dollar, relatively easy company formation and strong links with markets across the Gulf, Africa, Europe and Asia.
Its location also makes it useful for entrepreneurs running businesses across different regions. From Dubai, India, Europe and East Africa can all be reached within a relatively convenient working day.
For some Indian entrepreneurs, Dubai has therefore become more than a place to keep assets or spend part of the year. It can also serve as the main base for running a business.
There is also a generational aspect to this trend. Several Indian-origin fortunes in the Gulf were built over 20 or 30 years. Many of these businesses developed outside the attention usually given to large companies in Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru.
Jagtiani has been associated with Landmark Group for decades. Pillai’s business empire dates back to the 1970s. Their appearance on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 is therefore not necessarily a sign of sudden wealth creation.
The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 tracks how wealth is being created and distributed among India’s richest individuals. This year’s list also shows how much of that wealth is being created outside India.
The three new Dubai-based entrants are part of a larger trend. Existing wealthy Indian-origin entrepreneurs are also continuing to build businesses from the Gulf.
The list also shows that overseas-based wealth is growing across several sectors. Hurun India founder and chief researcher Anas Rahman Junaid has pointed to the growing global reach of Indian businesses as one of the themes of this year’s list.
He also noted that 13 of the 19 new artificial intelligence entrants on the list live outside India. The growing presence of wealthy Indian entrepreneurs in Dubai suggests that the city is becoming an important centre for Indian business activity outside the country.
For years, Dubai was seen mainly as a convenient base for Indians with business or family links in the Gulf. The latest M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026 shows that its role is becoming much larger. A growing number of Indian-origin entrepreneurs, Dubai is not simply a stopover. It is where they live, run businesses and build wealth.