Gautam Adani, a leader amongst mortals 👑

A fun exercise for you - who’s the first person that comes to mind when you hear “college dropout” and “billionaire”. Most of you are probably thinking Steve Jobs or Bill Gates but hold your horses, because this is not the complete list! Joining this list of legends is fresh out of India, Gautam Adani.

Adani is just another college dropout who has built an empire to become Asia’s richest man.

This story is of our very own Gujju bhai, Gautam Adani, the Founder and Chairman of Adani Group, standing at a net worth of $138.1 Billion. This alone inspired me to dig deeper and unlock a treasure chest, which most haven’t explored.

As of today, the Adani Group dabbles in ports, food, cement, media, just to name a few! This is just scratching the surface, he also…

1. …owns Mundra Port

2. …owns 74% of Mumbai International Airport

3. …has assets worth $10.5 billion in Swiss Firm, Holcim

4. …is India’s second largest cement producer

5. …has invested $70 billion on renewable energy projects

Okay, that was quite a mouthful. But let’s take a moment to appreciate the man who started his career off as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers.

Social Responsibility takes a front-seat!

Who doesn’t get touched by a good story of philanthropy? Adani Ports has set up wastewater treatment facilities across major ports and has treated and reused 650 million litres. The group harvests over 2 billion litres of rainwater annually, which can be used for generating approximately 891 million units of electricity and light up 8.9 million houses for a month.

The group’s presence is felt on the East as well as the West belt of the country as it has initiated afforestation and conservation of Mangroves with a multi-dimensional approach. This includes a network comprising the local community, experts and our in-house horticulture team.

Adani Group has also pioneered use of tree-transplanters in India’s mining sector. This technology enables development of critical infrastructure projects without disturbing the local ecology.

I could go further on this but let’s segue into the latest project….

The Latest win - A glimmer of hope for Dharavi

Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi, located in Mumbai is spread over 2.8 sqkm and is home to an informal leather and pottery industry which employs over a lakh people. It comes as no surprise that the state wants to transform this into a cluster of high-rise builsings with improved urban infrastructure.

Do you know that the slum has 68,000 people? The state has to rehabilitate all of them. The Redevelopment project has been in talks since 2011 but due to political instabilities, the project never took off. That’s until the Adani Group entered as a saviour. They have emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project, putting in a Rs 5,069 crore bid for the redevelopment of one of the largest slum sprawls in the world. It is believed that the rehabilitation of Dharavi residents will be completed in 7 years.

Well, I don’t know about you but I am pretty excited to see the revamped Dharavi, in all its glory!

What’s next?

Gautam Adani is planning to invest more than $4 billion in a petrochemical complex in the state of Gujarat. He also plans to launch a "super app" in the next three to six months to connect Adani airport passengers with other Adani Group service.

When it comes to the environment, the group will build three giga factories to manufacture solar modules, wind turbines, and hydrogen electrolyzers as part of its $70 billion investment in clean energy by 2030. Only the news will tell us what’s more to come…