B G Raghupathy, BGR Energy Systems

India's Richest #74, Net Worth: $710 million, 56,Chennai

Former marketing executive, he struck out on his own in 1985 as a subcontractor for state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals, India's largest maker of power equipment. Partnered with Germany's GEA Energietechnik to manufacture equipment used in thermal and nuclear power plants. After GEA itself got acquired, he fought to retain control and bought out the German partner in 1993. Rechristened company as BGR Energy Systems and scaled up operations. In 2007, won contract for a gas processing plant in Iraq. Last year took company public, raising $94 million. Has forged link with China's Dong Fang, a power equipment maker, to jointly build for contracts.

Kavitark Ram Shriram

Forbes Billionaires #782 ,#292 in United States, Kavitark "Ram" Shriram, Net Worth $1.5 billion, Age 50. Born, schooled in Madras, India. Created shop bot Junglee; sold to Amazon in 1998. Worked for Netscape, Amazon before launching Sherpalo in 2000. Learned to adapt during the tech bust: "Living in a world where everything is changing constantly, you learn to change." Early investor, board member of Google. Sold off more than half his shares since public offering 2004; still owns 1.9 million shares worth $760 million. Other investments: Zazzle (custom-designed T shirts, mugs, stamps), PodShow (online radio), 247Customer.com (Indian call centers).