Bhujia, a spicy fried snack made of gram flour.
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This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of India’s Richest 2025. See the full list here.
The third-generation brothers behind Haldiram’s, a popular Indian snack brand, return to the ranks of the country’s richest after a four-year gap, following the sale of a 10% stake in their family business to Singapore state-owned investor Temasek, in a deal that valued it at $10 billion.
Haldiram Snacks Food was created two years ago when eldest brother Shiv Kishan Agrawal, 84, merged his Nagpur-based Indian snack maker, Haldiram Food International, with Haldiram Foods, run by his younger siblings Manohar Lal Agarwal, 70, and Madhusudan Agarwal, 69, in Delhi. Investors Miami-based Alpha Wave Global and Abu Dhabi-based IHC also picked up shares during the March funding round, eager for a bite of the country’s snacks market that’s projected to more than double to $12 billion by 2033 from $5.6 billion in 2024, according to Noida-based market research firm Imarc Group.
Known for top-sellers like bhujia, a spicy fried snack made of gram flour, and its sweet cashew cakes, Haldiram (2024 sales: $1.5 billion) has over 1,000 distributors in India and a global market that spans Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe. Upcoming plans include more expansion in the U.S. and the Middle East, both Indian expat strongholds. The siblings’ late grandfather, Gangabishan Agarwal, started selling snacks nearly 90 years ago from a tiny shop in Rajasthan, later dividing the business among them. Another brother, Shiv Ratan Agarwal, 74, continues to run listed snack-food rival Bikaji Foods International.