Gautam Shantilal Adani (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian billionaire industrialist who is the founder and chairman of Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.[2][3]
Adani has been described as being close to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.[3][4][5] This has led to allegations of cronyism,[6] as his firms have won many energy and infrastructure contracts in India and abroad after Modi became the Prime Minister of India.[7] In January 2023, following accusations of stock manipulation and fraud by American short selling activist firm Hindenburg Research,[8] Adani’s and his family’s fortune has plummeted by over 50%[9][10][11][12] to an estimated US$50.2 billion, as of March 2023, while falling to the 24th place on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list.[13]
As a teenager, Adani moved to Mumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers.[19]
In 1981, his elder brother Mahasukhbhai Adani bought a plastics unit in Ahmedabad and invited him to manage the operations. This venture turned out to be Adani’s gateway to global trading through polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports.[17]
In 1985, he started importing primary polymers for small-scale industries. In 1988, Adani established Adani Exports, now known as Adani Enterprises, the holding company of the Adani Group. Originally, the company dealt in agricultural and power commodities.[17]
In 1991, the economic liberalization policies turned out to be favorable for his company and he started expanding the businesses into trading of metals, textiles, and agro products.[17][20]
In 1994, the Government of Gujarat announced managerial outsourcing of the Mundra Port and in 1995, Adani got the contract.[4]
In 1995, he set up the first jetty. Originally operated by Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone, the operations were transferred to Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ). Today, the company is the largest private multi-port operator. Mundra Port is the largest private sector port in India, with the capacity of handling close to 210 million tons of cargo per annum.[21][22]
In 1996, the power business arm of the Adani Group, Adani Power, was founded by Adani. Adani Power holds thermal power plants with a capacity of 4620MW, the largest private thermal power producer of the country.[23]
In 2002, Adani was arrested by Delhi Police in execution of a non-bailable warrant(NBW), following a cheating complaint by a top of official of M S Shoes. The court withdrew the NBW the next day, after the court was informed that the parties were negotiating for a compromise.[24]
In 2006, Adani entered the power generation business.[25] From 2009 to 2012, he acquired Abbot Point Port in Australia and Carmichael coal mine in Queensland.[26]
In 2012, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had filed a charge sheet against twelve accused including the Adani for cheating & criminal conspiracy related to purchase and sale of shares. According to SFIO, Adani Agro allegedly provided funds and shares for running illegal activities. A local court in Mumbai discharged Adani & other accused of this case in May, 2014.[27] However, in 2020, a Mumbai sessions court overturned the clean chit to Adani in this case.[28]
In May 2020, Adani won the world’s largest solar bid by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) worth US$6 billion. The 8000MW photovoltaic power plant project will be taken up by Adani Green; Adani Solar will establish 2000MW of additional solar cell and module manufacturing capacity.[29][30]
In September 2020, Adani acquired a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport, India’s second busiest after Delhi.[31]
In November 2021, while speaking at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum, Adani said the group is investing US$70 billion in a new green energy business.[25][32][33] In July 2022, he offered new details on how this investment will be utilized to build three giant factories – solar, electrolyzer (to make green hydrogen), wind turbine plants.[34][35]
In February 2022, he became Asia’s richest person, surpassing Mukesh Ambani.[36] In August 2022, he was named the 3rd richest person in the world by Fortune.[37]
In May 2022, Adani family acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC from Swiss building materials giant Holcim Group for $10.5 billion, through an overseas special-purpose entity.[38]
In August 2022, AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL), a unit of Adani Group, declared that it planned to buy RRPR Holding, owner of 29.18% of national news broadcaster NDTV, and made an open offer to buy a further 26%. In a statement, NDTV said that Adani acquired his stake via a third party without informing the company’s founders, former journalist Radhika Roy and her economist husband Prannoy Roy, and that the deal was done “without discussion, consent or notice.”[39] This bid also raised concern regarding editorial independence in India, since Adani is considered to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.[3][40] By December 2022, Adani was described as controlling the largest shareholding in NDTV.[41][42] The Economist said that before Adani bought NDTV, the news channel was “critical of the government but is now supine.”[5]
