Adani Group’s Chairman Gautam Adani, the richest Indian whose rise is alleged to have been meteoric because of his close proximity with PM Modi, stated that his group’s success over the years is due to policy and institutional reforms in the country, and ‘‘not because of any individual leader.’’ He said, ‘‘In the past nine years, our profit has been growing at twice the rate of debt, because of which our debt-to-earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization ratio has come down from 7.6 to 3.2. This is very healthy for a large group where most of the companies are in the infrastructure space with assured and predictable cash flow unlike in manufacturing.’’
The multi-billionaire rues that he is often an easy target for ‘baseless allegations’ simply due to the fact that he is from the same state as Prime Minister Modi. Disregarding such allegations, Adani said that his entrepreneurial journey would not have started well if not for former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. ‘‘But for Rajiv Gandhi, my journey as an entrepreneur would never have taken off,’’ he said. After Rajiv Gandhi, it was the leadership of P V Narasimha Rao that gave his journey its second push, the billionaire added. Adani also gave credit to the Keshubhai Patel, former Chief Minister of Gujarat. It was during his term that Adani Group made its foray into Mundra Port, which remains a very profitable asset to the group. Currently, the group is actively involved in a variety of business sectors and is rightly dubbed as a port-to-power conglomerate.
Though Adani clarified, ‘‘My professional success is not because of any individual leader but because of the policy and institutional reforms initiated by several leaders and governments during a long period of over three decades,’’ common perception is his fortunes had a sharp upward lift after Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
(Source: Times of India 301-2-22, Indian Express 30-12-22, Outlook 29-12-22)
Adani says meteoric rise in his wealth and profit is not because of proximity to any individual leader but 30 years of institutional reform
