NEW DELHI - THE number of billionaires in India almost doubled in the past 12 months to 52, mainly thanks to a recovery in global stock markets, a rich list from US magazine Forbes showed on Thursday.

'Happy days are definitely back again for India's richest,' said Naazneen Karmali, India editor for Forbes Asia, in a statement accompanying the India Richlist survey. 'This year's list shows yet again that when conditions in the financial markets and the economy are right, India has the scale and resources to produce billionaires faster than most of the countries on Earth.'

A rebound in the Mumbai stock exchange, which is up 76 per cent since the start of the year, and continuing economic growth helped enrich the mostly male list of company owners, whose accumulated net worth is equivalent to a quarter of India's gross domestic product.

Last year, the number of billionaires halved to just 27, from 54 in 2007.

'In terms of absolute fortune, we are not at the level we had,' Mr Karmali said: 'We're back to 52, but in terms of wealth we have not recovered yet.'

The magazine also underlined the higher concentration of wealth in India compared with China. The 100 richest Chinese are worth US$170 billion (S$236 billion), less than their Indian equivalents at $276 billion.