“Business is all about risk taking and managing uncertainties and turbulence.”
– Gautum Adani
Amidst the pandemic and crumpling businesses across the globe, Gautum Adani has been declared as Asia’s second richest man. While the coronavirus outbreak has taken down many businesses since last year, the Adani Group has thrived. Adani’s conglomerate continues to climb up the ladder, receiving global attention.
The journey of this popular business tycoon has been a ride of a roller coaster. However, the man’s business acumen and ability to overcome crises has propelled him to the position he is currently at.
Adani was born and brought up in Ahmedabad in a Gujrati-Jain family and was one of the eight siblings.
Mr. Gautum Adani recognized his capabilities beyond the education system and so he dropped out of college. To try his luck and fate, he fled to Mumbai – the city of dreams. In the 1980s he worked in one of the diamond industries in the city and later succeeded to set up his own diamond brokerage.
Destiny had other, perhaps better things planned for him. His elder brother, Mr. Mahasukh Adani had started a new plastic unit in Ahmedabad during the time. Mr. Gautum Adani made a return to his home state in order to take care of his brother’s franchise which was the beginning of his blooming career ahead.
The famous Adani group came into existence in 1988. In the initial years of the group’s establishment, attention was primarily upon agricultural commodities and power. However, later in 1991, when liberalisation policies grabbed attention, Adani turned them into his own advantage. The businessman diversified newer interests and commodities and soon the group became a multinational conglomerate. Adani has not only served the nation as a businessman but also has ties with a number of philanthropic organisations serving different interests. The tycoon cites ‘nation-building’ as one of his key strategies.
The Adani group is one of the biggest port operators in India and interestingly, he had a vision to achieve this since in school. While Adani was still a school going boy, he had once visited the famous Kandla port and ever since dreamt of building something greater than that himself.
In 2008, when the heart wrenching terrorist attack took place at Mumbai’s Taj Hotel, Adani was one among the many hostages. He is a survivor of the inhuman 26/11 attack, yet another instance of luck in his favour and the universe’s bigger plans for him.
Like many entrepreneurs perhaps, Adani too has been seen melding his corporate strategies parallel to the government’s priorities and diversifying his conglomerate further in the process. He has repeatedly picked up newer industries, pushed by the government for further development, while the competition remained less.
Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Australia has been a highlight controversy since the beginning of the project in 2019. Questions began to be raised, exclusively addressing the environmental damage that the project might likely cause. The protest escalated into the popular #StopAdani campaign and even became an election agenda in Australia’s parliamentary vote back in 2019.
The man behind the successful conglomerate, Mr. Adani claims his vision is to become the world’s largest solar power company by 2025 and the largest renewable power company by 2030.
The man’s vision and dreams are huge, and we are all spectators of them coming true with time.
Written By – Surbhi Chopra
Edited By – Riya Shah
The post The Story of Adani- Asia’s Second Richest Man appeared first on The Economic Transcript.
