The 12 Biggest Indian Lottery Winners Ever (2023)

In this article, we've compiled the most inspiring rags-to-riches stories of the biggest lottery winners in India, along with nuggets on Lotto247 winners in the country. Additionally, we've got details on the top prizes available below from sanctioned government draws – who knows, the next big winner in town might just be you!

Biggest Indian Lottery Winners

We've compiled a list below of the 12 biggest lottery winners in India, along with their inspiring stories.

Related Reading: Top 10 Sports Betting Wins Ever (2022)

1. From Rags to Riches

Sadanandan, fondly called “Sadan”, won the ₹12-crore prize from the Kerala Christmas New Year Bumper BR-83 Lottery in 2022.

A painter residing in Kottayam, Sadanandan purchased the winning ticket with the serial number XG 218582 on the morning of the draw on January 16, 2022. Little did he know that that ticket will change his fortunes forever. After deducting income tax and the lottery agent's commission, Sadan received ₹7.39 crore. Now that's what you'd call a windfall!

2. The Rubber Tapper Crorepati

Porunnan Rajan, a tribal-colony resident from Malur Kaithachala in India, never expected the incredible outcome of his seemingly innocuous lottery purchase. Little did he know when purchasing a ticket for Kerala State Lottery's 2020 Christmas New Year Bumper draw that it would turn out to be an eventful day!

A rubber tapper by trade, Porunnan was astonished to learn that his ticket, bearing the serial number ST 269609, had won the top prize.

3. From Lottery Seller To Lottery Winner

Sharafuddin, a lottery ticket seller, won the top prize of ₹12 crores in the 2021 Christmas New Year Bumper draw of the Kerala State Lottery. He had been working in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, when lady luck decided to shower her blessings on him.

Every day, he would buy lottery tickets from the Bharani Lottery Agency, which he sold to customers. However, as fate would have it that day, he also had some unsold lottery ticket entries in his own batch, which also included the winning ticket. Sharafuddin, who had previously worked in construction, said he intended to invest the funds he had won.

4. Blessed at the Temple

Ananthu Vijayan, a temple worker from Kerala's Idukki, won the grand prize of ₹12 crores in the Thiruvonam Bumper Lottery on September 21, 2020. Just 24 years old at that time, Vijayan purchased the lottery ticket with the serial number TB173964 from a lottery agent a few days prior to the draw date.

When he received a call stating he had won the lottery, Vijayan thought someone was “pulling a prank” on him. After the truth sank in, the young Ananthu said he planned to establish a business with his father and purchase a small house close to Ernakulam.

5. First Lottery Crorepati

In 2002, the then 35-year-old M. Bensraj took part in the 14th Playwin Sikkim Super Lotto draw, one of India's biggest lotteries and also the first. The bumper prize of ₹5.20 crores made Bensraj the first crorepati from an online lottery in the country and undoubtedly one of the biggest Indian lottery winners to date.

While we have since seen many lottery winners from India, nobody can stake the claim to being the first online lottery crorepati.

6. Youngest Winner

In 2017, Mumbaikar Akshit Kumar Jain became the youngest Playwin Thunder Ball Jackpot winner. Overall the 96th prize winner of this particular draw, Jain got a windfall of ₹2.83 crores, and in the process, joined the wealth club of 90 other crorepatis and more than 5000 lakhpatis that Playwin claims to have thrown up over 15 years of gaming in the country.

7. The 50-Million-Dollar Lottery Winner

The biggest lottery winner in India to date! The renowned Mega Millions lottery dished out USD 50 million to Hira Singh in March 2019 for successfully the landing matching numbers 10, 12, 16, 49, and 57. The whole incident is particularly bizarre, as Singh didn't even know he had the winning ticket until several days later!

Despite the massive prize money, which was a whopping $50,000,000, the draw was actually one of the lowest Mega Millions jackpots ever.

8. Mumbai Millionaires

We bet ₹8 crores would change your life quite dramatically – well, that's how much Ashok and Kirti Patel won in 2008. Their ₹7.87 crore windfall was from a single lotto ticket, which proves that you really never know when your lucky number comes up!

9. The 6-Man Syndicate

Imagine you and your buddies went in and bought a lottery ticket together, and voila, you hit the jackpot! Well, that's exactly what happened to a group of friends from Kerala. In 2019, six salesmen working in a jewellery shop won the grand prize of ₹12 crores – and it only cost them ₹600 each!

These friends formed a sextet of the biggest lottery winners in India. Humbly, though, they chose to continue working at their old job, but we do hope they're putting their massive winnings to good use.

10. Three-Time Lucky

Winning the lottery is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence – some never manage to land a win at all. But one lucky man managed to defeat the odds not once, not twice, but a staggering three times. Yes, you read that right! RP Manoharan managed three big lotto wins in just one year. His first win paid out ₹65 Lakh, and his next two wins were worth ₹70 Lakh each.

Manoharan, who plays the lotto fairly often, is living proof that if you want to be one of the biggest lottery winners in India, you have to be in it to win it!

11. Win By Chance

Anoop, an auto-rickshaw driver from Thiruvananthapuram, wanted to go to Malaysia and pursue a career as a chef. He had applied for a loan in order to fund his studies; however, destiny had other plans.

In September 2022, just a day after his bank loan got approved, the then 25-year-old won the Onam bumper lottery in Kerala worth a whopping Rs 25 crores.

However, the funny part is that the winning ticket was not Anoop's first choice. He didn't like the first ticket he had purchased, prompting him to pick out another that eventually won. After deduction of taxes, Anoop took home net winnings worth ₹15 crores.

12. Small Starts

Saraswati Bhagare, a lottery enthusiast, and homemaker from Pune, won only ₹500 as her first lottery prize. However, the amount was enough to motivate her to regularly play the lottery.

With this attitude, she kept going to lotteries and eventually got lucky when she won a ₹1.50 crore prize with Sikkim’s Rajshree Powerball Lotto game in 2018. Her plan at that time was to use the money to set up her own restaurant.

Lotto247 Winners in India

World’s Biggest Lottery Winners

Now that we've discussed the biggest lottery winners in India, you're probably wondering if the wins are as equally astounding abroad. While European prizes are similar, the United States has dropped some utterly insane prizes – literally billions of US dollars!

Here are five of the world’s biggest lottery winners:

1. The November Man

A short ride to a gas station in Altadena, California, turned miraculous for Edwin Castro in November 2022. Castro bought a Powerball ticket that won him a record-breaking jackpot of $2.04 billion last year. However, for reasons best known to him, he came forward to claim the jackpot only in February 2023 and took home a one-shot payout of $1 billion.

Castro refrained from sharing any more of his personal details, but one thing he was particularly happy about was that the California Public School system, where he had completed his primary education, had also received upwards of $150 million in this draw.

2. Highest Lottery Prize in History

We couldn't possibly leave out the three winners of the world’s biggest jackpot lottery. In 2016, a monstrous $1.586 billion (₹12,577 crores on the day of writing) was shared between three lucky Powerball participants in the U.S.

Marvin and Mae Acosta from California, Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt in Florida, and John and Lisa Robinson in Tennessee shared the jackpot, each getting an annuity worth approximately $533 million before taxes.

The Acostas remained anonymous for a long time, but later went public.

3. Anonymous Billionaire of South California

One of the highest lottery prizes in the world – the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in 2018 – was won through the purchase of a single ticket. The winning numbers 5, 28, 62, 65, and 70, with a Mega Ball of 5, were bought from a KC Mart gas station and convenience store outside Simpsonville in upstate South Carolina.

This marked one of the biggest jackpots ever won by a single ticket and the third-largest in the US, only behind the $2.04 billion and $1.586 billion Powerball jackpots won in 2022 and 2016, respectively. The winnings surpassed the previous Mega Millions jackpot record of $656 million, set in March 2012. The winner chooses to remain anonymous to this day.

4. The Black Friday Win

January 13th, a Black Friday, brought in good news as Mega Millions reached its second-highest jackpot size of $1.35 billion, won by a single ticket-holder the very same day in the town of Maine, USA. While the identity of the winner is not known yet, the winning combination of the ticket was 30-43-45-46-61, and a gold mega ball numbered 14.

Fun Fact: Although ostensibly considered unlucky by many, Black Fridays have thrown up seven jackpot winners to date.

5. Lottery Club Wins Mega Millions Jackpot

The $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot, won by a lottery club in Oakland County, is the highest payout in the Michigan Lottery history.

The four-person Wolverine FLL Club owned the winning ticket, which matched the drawn numbers 04-26-42-50-60 in addition to the Mega Ball 24. Instead of receiving annuity payments for the whole amount, the club opted to receive their winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of around $776 million after taxes.

Highest Lottery Prize in India

Several online lotteries in India – for example, Powerball, Mega Millions, and Lottoland – offer jaw-dropping rewards. That said, the latter are top-of-the-shelf international lotteries based outside of India.

So, if your question is more focused on what the highest lottery prize in India is, we think that would be of the Kerala State Lotteries, where several players like Porunnan Rajan, Sharafuddin, and Ananthu Vijayan have netted a whooping 12 crore.

Government Lotteries in India

Several state governments have legalised lotteries in India, with regulatory bodies monitoring ticket sales. Here’s a list of some of the top government lotteries in the country offering the biggest lottery prizes.

Lottoland India Winners

Mr Govind Gowd of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, won ₹39,09,073.16 on May 3, 2021, after playing the cutting-edge lottery game KeNow. Using the game's Quick Pick function, he chose to proceed with the automatically created combination of 20 numbers. When the big news came in, and the winning combination was revealed, Mr Gowd nearly fell off his sofa in disbelief!

Powerball Lottery India

Almost 400 people have won the Powerball jackpot in the American draw. Since 2003, Powerball jackpots have paid out nearly $28 billion!

All you need to do to win the Powerball lottery India jackpot is match five regular lottery numbers and one Powerball combination.

It's best to purchase Powerball lottery India tickets online India – only in the US and a few other countries can you purchase Powerball tickets physically.

How To Join the Biggest Lottery Winners in India

There are a few different ways of entering a lottery apart from simply buying a single-entry ticket. To increase your chances of being one of the biggest lottery winners in India, consider these entry methods.

1. Syndicate

Syndicate lottery betting is where many individuals collectively bet on a particular lottery. You basically buy into the syndicate and will receive a proportionate share of any winnings. The benefit here is that since there are many members choosing lottery lines, there is a higher chance of winning.

2. Bundle

The bundle is a mixture of a personal and syndicate entry, meaning you get to win a share of the prize if your syndicate numbers win. However, if your personal lines win, only you collect the prize. Your odds of winning increase in a bundle entry and are arguably the most valuable way to play lotteries online in India.