Gautam Adani: A Guide to His Life and Career

Gautam Adani is an Indian entrepreneur, philanthropist ranking among the top 3 business industrialists in India. He is also the founder of a multi-industry company- Adani Group,  headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat which deals with electric power generation, transmission, mining, natural gas and many more. He is a billionaire standing just behind the first richest man Ambani.

Gautam Adani Early Life

Gautam Adani was born in a bania family on 24th June, 1962 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. His parents are Shantilal Adani and Shantaben Adani. He also has seven siblings. His father was involved in the textile business. Since childhood, Adani wanted to do business and was very ambitious. He used to go to the school named Sheth C N Vidyalaya  in Ahmedabad and then took admission in Gujarat University for doing BCom. But after the second year, he dropped out.

Gautam Adani Personal Life

Adani married Priti Adani who is a dentist and also organises campaigns for children’s education. She is also Adani Group’s managing trustee. They have two children- Karan and Jeet Adani. Karan is now the Chief Executive Officer of Adani Port and facilitates its daily operations. 

During the tragic 26/11, Mumbai attacks in 2008 he was stuck in the Taj Hotel with other hostages hiding from the terrorists in the basement. In the following morning he was rescued by the commandos. 

Gautam Adani Professional Life

Adani wanted to start a business and was always keen to begin something big. He shifted to Mumbai in 1978 when he was a teenager. In Mahendra Brothers he started working as a diamond sorter. Later he opened his own diamond brokerage firm. In 1981, his brother purchased a plastic factory and asked Gautam to return to Ahmedabad to help him in importing PVC. He also went to South Korea to fix a deal regarding the import of plastic. 

In 1998, Adani Exports was established by him which was later known as Adani Enterprises. Primarily it dealt with power and agricultural products, then slowly it started expanding into metals and textile. In 1994, Government of Gujarat approved his contract to set up a port in Mundra to help his company’s cargo. Now it is one of the largest ports in Mundra. Once during a school tour he had visited Kandla Port and was amazed to see it. That time he had taken an oath to build such a port. So setting up Mundra Port was like a dream come true. It also started trading in India. He built rail and road links to it and also built thermal power plants in 2009. Then after 2012, he purchased Abbot Point Port and Charmichael coal mine.

Now he owns 75% of Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Gas and many more. According to Forbes he ranks #2 in Asia and #13 in all over the world as the richest man.   CM of Gujarat gave him “Excellence in Management Award” in 2007. The Adani Group’s Mundra Port and SEZ was awarded by Lloyd’s List the “Port Authority Award” in 2006 for being one of the best ports. He is an inspiration for many and his determination is the result of how successful he is now. 

Gautam Adani Philanthropic Works

Through the Adani Foundation, Adani Group performs activities like education, broadening rural infrastructure and livelihood opportunities in many states.

• His wife takes care of a school in Ahmedabad in which only student’s parents whose income is less than 1 lakh study.
• The foundation has a special scheme for assisting fishermen to purchase fishing tools by providing money and also provides fishermen’s children education.
• In 2012, Adani Foundation partnered with a joint venture in vocational training, and City & Guilds called IndiaSkills which is one of the leading providers for offering skill-related courses in hospitality, security, retail,  construction and engineering in Gujarat. 

Gautam Adani Quotations

• “The key to success is becoming constant in learning and utilizing it purposefully to achieve what one dreams of in life.”
• I could never take orders from anyone.”