Ramesh Kunhikannan: The man who joined Forbes list of billionaires, courtesy Chandrayaan-3

India last year became the first country to land a spacecraft near the unexplored lunar south pole.

The historic Chandrayaan-3 not only made the country shine but also made 60-year-old Ramesh Kunhikannan, a billionaire.

Kunhikannan has been named on the Forbes Billionaires List 2024 for the first time this year.

He has established himself as one of the richest people in the world, right up there with Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mukesh Ambani, thanks to his remarkable $1.2 billion (~Rs 10,011 crore) net worth.

Here’s all we know about him.

About Ramesh Kunhikannan

Ramesh Kunhikannan is the founder and managing director of electronics manufacturer Kaynes Technology India, which is headquartered in Mysore, according to NDTV.

More from Explainers

He graduated from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, with a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

In 1988, he founded the company as a contract electronics manufacturer. Savitha Ramesh, his spouse, joined the business in 1996 and is currently the chairperson.

According to Forbes, the company's printed circuit board assembly business accounts for more than half of its $137 million in annual revenue.

It supplies electronic systems and design services to automotive, aerospace, medical, and defence industries with Kaynes’s products being used in electronic controls in electric vehicles to ventilators and railway signals.

How Chandrayaan-3 made him a billionaire

Kaynes Technology is one of the numerous businesses that contributed to the achievement of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which was led by ISRO with a budget of Rs 615 crore.

According to Forbes, Kunhikannan's company provided the electrical systems that powered the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover during the mission's successful completion, as per Moneycontrol.

After its involvement in the successful lunar trip was revealed, Kaynes's shares, whose value had already increased by three times since its launch on the Bombay Stock Exchange in November 2022, saw an additional 40 per cent gain.

Kunhikannan's 64 per cent ownership in the company contributed to his net worth of approximately $1.1 billion.

About Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023 and successfully soft-landed on 23 August.

It was a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.

The mission aimed to explore the Moon’s surface, particularly areas that have been deprived of sunlight for billions of years.

Other Indian billionaires on the list

200 Indians were listed on Forbes' list of the "World's Billionaires" for 2024 on Wednesday, up from 169 the previous year.

The wealthiest Indians on the list amassed a staggering $954 billion, an enormous 41 per cent rise over the $675 billion held by 169 billionaires the year before, as per India Today.

Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani topped the position of India’s richest with a net worth of $116 billion. He also became the first Asian to join the $100-billion club, coming ninth on the global rankings list.

Gautam Adani came in second, with a net worth of $84 billion. He was followed by Shiv Nadar ($36.9 billion).

Out of the 200 Indians on the list, 25 were featured on it for the first time.

Besides Kunhikannan, other billionaires on the list are Landmark Group CEO Renuka Jagtiani, FIVE Holdings’ Kabir Mulchandani, Polycab India’s Ramesh Jaisinghani, Apollo Tyres’ Onkar Kanwar, Medanta hospital’s Naresh Trehan, among others.

With inputs from agencies