India’s richest man reins in his pay to £2 million a year

India's richest man has said he will take a 66% pay cut this year to "reflect his desire to set a personal example of moderation".

Mukesh Ambani, the head of the huge conglomerate Reliance Industries, will struggle by on just 150 million rupees (£2 million) this year, down from the 440 million rupees he paid himself last year.

But his sacrifice is nothing compared with his younger brother and arch-business rival Anil Ambani, who is taking no pay at all this year, having received 521 million rupees last year. The two brothers are locked in a bitter dispute over the spoils of their father Dhirubhai's empire, which is set to go to India's Supreme Court next week.

In India an estimated 450 million live on less than 80p a day. But its top 50 billionaires account for more than 20% of its gross domestic product.

Mukesh's fortune is reckoned to have dropped from an estimated $43 billion (£27 billion) in 2008 to $19.5 billion today.