Know the formula that made Gautam Adani the third richest man on the planet

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) : “There is only one formula that works both in business and our practical lives, and that is Hard Work, Hard Work, and Hard Work. I work with honesty and I believe there is no shortcut” said Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group on the popular television show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ hosted by Rajat Sharma.

“This formula is not based on any mathematics, chemistry or physics, on the basis of which I would base my business” said Adani in a reply to the question posed by Sharma. “There’s only one formula that works both in business and our practical lives, and that is hard work, hard work and hard work. I see that I have my family’s support, the support of my seniors, the support of my team, and above all, God’s blessings and mercy. I work with honestly and I believe this is the only reason and there is no shortcut. The success of any man depends on honesty and hard work, and the rest is left to God; that’s the only formula.”

Gautam Adani, a person who never speaks about himself, appeared for the first time on a public show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ hosted by Rajat Sharma and answered all the question as well those raised by the audience. The judge of the show was Dr. Simrit Kaur, Principal from the world-famous Shri Ram College of Commerce.

One of the top 3 richest people on the planet, Gautam Adani’s story is like a film’s screenplay. A person who started his life from a regular chawl and has overtaken Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in wealth today. Gautam Adani is the world’s busiest deal maker. This year he has earned the most wealth in the world. Gautam Adani started business as a regular diamond trader. Today he has ports, mines, power, solar power, green energy, cement, housing, petrochemicals, everything under him. There would seldom be a sector which he has not successfully penetrated.

With his hard work and passion, Gautam Adani became the King of Infrastructure. Gautam Adani is product born in a small-town, but today presidents and prime ministers all around the world invite him for industrialisation in their country. But for Gautam Adani, his family is his world where they all live and work together. Gautam Adani is a private person and stays away from publicity.

Replying to a question on his wealth that increased 100% to Rs 18.64 lakh crores between December 2021 to December 2022, Adani said, “I don’t get trapped in this web of numbers. The major thing for me is what change can I bring about in the nation? If you go to see why the numbers have increased, I see that the country is on the path to progress. And I say it with full confidence that India’s position today, and in the coming 20-30 years, is going to be unstoppable”

‘I don’t chase numbers. I was 15 years old. I passed my 10th grade. And, coincidently I belonged to a family situation that without completing my studies or my graduation, I came to Mumbai to find work. That was a 4-year journey before I returned to Ahmedabad. Mumbai taught me quite a few things, it taught me how to work hard. After that, my business journey started. I belonged to a middle-class family, a business family, I got into business and I as a 15-19 year old had that zeal to do something beyond my family business. My family supported me quite a bit, and on the basis of that, I went ahead. The money was limited, and I had to grow my business accordingly. There were lots of troubles, there were many established players. But I have noticed that at various points of my life, different people supported me for me to succeed, and whatever I am today, is because of them,” said Adani.

“I believe education is very important. Education makes a person knowledgeable. I wasn’t able to choose that path, and that’s my misfortune. I chose another path – hard work and experience. That hard work and experience increased my wisdom. I sometimes wonder that had I had the education along with this hard work and experience, then I would’ve become much bigger than the current Gautam Adani” said Adani.

From a humble scooter to the fleet of jets and helicopters, Adani said, “The only thing I can say is that I’m a grounded man, and even today I know the mindset of a person travelling by a scooter, a rickshaw, a bus or be it a jet, that’s because I have been through that journey. Just because I travel by a jet, it doesn’t mean I’m not rooted to the ground”

To a question on a joke on social media that if Mukesh Ambani would have invested the 500 million in Adani shares rather than in his house, then he’d be the richest man in the world today, Adani said, “There’s a lot of creativity on social media and is a source of entertainment. I don’t concentrate much on that.

About his kidnapping during his early days, Adani said, “See, that wasn’t a very good incident, but everyone has such things in life. It’s better to forget such things as quickly as possible. It’s my nature to adapt to things as quickly as possible. It’s not in me to lose my peace over what’s not in our control. I was kidnapped and released the next day. I tell you, that I slept well that very night. So, I never feel that pressure.”

Remembering the 26/11 terrorist attack on Taj Hotel in Mumbai, Adani said, “I remember everything and I saw the terrorists in front on me when they fired their first round. I’m thankful to God, that I’ve seen two close to death experiences. I think it’s God’s grace that I was saved”.

“On 26/11 I was dining with the Dubai Port CEO at the Masala Craft restaurant in Taj and that’s when this incident happened around 10 p.m. 5 minutes before that, we paid the bill and were ready to leave. However, my friend wanted to discuss more, so we stayed back for coffee and that’s when this incident occurred. I sometimes think that had I paid the bill and left at that time, I would’ve been trapped in the lobby area. Since we stayed back, we were trapped inside the restaurant. Today I say that the dedication shown by the employees of Taj Group, be it their waiters or any of them, is something which is very rare to see in organisations today”

“I was trapped there all night. The employees of Taj took me to the Chamber from the path behind the kitchen. I was there all night. At around 7 a.m. the commandos came and were aware that many people were trapped there. So, with full protection, the commanders escorted us outside the hotel premises. I got away about 7.30 – 8 a.m. the next day” said Adani.

Replying to a question on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Adani said, “Rahul ji is a senior leader of the Congress Party. I feel that as an industrialist, it doesn’t suit me to comment on him. He’s a respected leader, and I see that he too wants the nation to progress. I understand, he says certain things because of his political leanings, but I don’t take it anymore than a political gimmick.

On Rahul Gandhi’s accusations in February 2022 that the Modi government had handed over all of India’s ports, airports, gas, transmission, power, mining, green energy, gas, everything to Gautam Adani “When you put an accusation, also tell me, is there anything that is done without bidding. Is there one business which we have entered without bidding or without merit? Even we know that doing such a thing in India would create controversy. The Adani Group has a philosophy that nothing should be touched without a bid. Be it my ports, airports, roads, power house, not one business has been acquired without bidding. It’s like questioning the one who stands 1st in the exam. Then that should be accepted. But that accusation even Rahul ji hasn’t put on us, that there was foul play in any bidding process”

On his Rs 2 lakh crores of bank loan exposure, Gautam Adani said, “When you make an infrastructure project, you have a bank borrowing and your equity on top of that. You have to put 30-40% of your own money and 60-70% can be borrowed from the bank. The question is, what is the rating on the loan you’ve taken? I want to make it clear today through your show that Adani Group is the sole group in India whose rating… and this rating is not given by any political party or bank, it’s given by an independent rating agency after your full financial analysis. And basis that, loan is given to those eligible. You have that rating for India, the Indian banks and for every corporate. Today every company of Adani Group is rated at par with India’s overall rating, which is a sovereign rating. Adani Group has such a discipline and rating, that in my 25 years we have never delayed payment or defaulted on interest, and more so, whenever we need funds for any development activity, everyone is ready to lend to us”

“Before 2013 we used to take 80% of the money from Indian banks. That today stands at 35%. After that, we penetrated the international market with a global rating. On the global front, no one lends based on what someone says, they purely lend seeing your rating and governance. Based our company’s ratings and disclosures, one of our companies has got an award for worldwide 3rd ESG level. This is an absolutely baseless allegation. I understand he needs to say certain things politically, but there’s no friction between the lenders and us borrowers” added Adani.

Replying to a question from the audience, Adani said, “When you take risks, you need to know its limit. We’ve taken risks in many places, and it’s not that we’ve been successful in all; we have faced failures in many places too. You need to have that strength to wade through such a time, and for that you need to be perseverant. Difficulties will come. It’s not that you will face success in every endeavour; you will face difficulties too. But, with the right intention and with the right perseverance, you will never face failure”

About the seizure of Rs 20,000 crore drugs from Mundra Port Trust, in September 2021, In May 2022, 500 crores of drugs and then in July 2022, Rs375 crores worth drugs were caught and Rahul Gandhi’s accusations that who is saving Adani?, Adani said, “You need to see that these drugs have been caught. You need to look at it from this perspective that any drugs that passes through the port is caught. That doesn’t mean that there has been no inquiry on the previous catch. But today I would like to congratulate every agency, be it the customs, the police, the DRI, that they worked diligently and caught this smuggling of drugs. When we run a port, we have no additional powers than what the government tells us to do. When you run a port, you are in charge of only loading and unloading the cargo. You have no policing powers, no inspection powers, no power to arrest; that is the work of the different agencies of the government. This is to mislead the people. Whatever is being caught is reported to the government – who is sending is, who is doing it, how is it coming, and the government has tackled all of them.”

Adani rejected the claims of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress that  Adani or his men have not been question in the drugs landing case, Adani said, “No, that is wrong. Whenever there’s an investigation, it’s a 360° investigation and there’s questioning in that. It has never been that one has been able to bypass the government investigation. So I disagree that the Adani Group has been receiving some special treatment.”

“I feel that by repeatedly naming Rahul ji, you’re instigating a fight between us and tomorrow he will release another statement. I believe that Rahul ji is a respected leader. Yes, he too runs a political party, he has an ideological battle and there will be accusations. I’m a regular industrialist. I will do my work and he will do the politics that suits him. During the 2014 elections and post that, Rahul ji has continuously attacked me, because of which you all know who I am and because of which I’m here today”

About his Rs 68,000 crore investment in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Adani said, “The potential that Rajasthan has, and not only Rajasthan, in all the states whatever potential they have, the Adani Group is committed to development. You must have seen that even media wants to have some controversy and I have even heard afterwards Rahul Gandhi ji in his press conference has appreciated our investment.  Rahul Gandhi does not have any policies which are against development. So, our aim is to go in every state, wherever it is possible and do the maximum investment. We are working even with Kerala left government, working with Mamata Didi, even with Naveen Patnaik Ji’s, Jagan, even KCR, so we are working in each state and all are different government’s some are regional party, Congress, left party also, so today I want to say confidently that we never had any problem from any government.”

About his  first big investment with which he became big with Mundra Port for which Narendra Modi gave you land for ₹1 per square feet, Adani said, “The land that we got for ₹1, I would like to tell you Rajat ji that, that land was not land at all.  When there was a high tide, the land used to go under the sea water and we did reclamation of almost 10 feet, 3-4 meters above it and the cost of the reclamation is far bigger than the cost of the land.  Even today when you give example of Mundra Port, it is a very unique example.  We have not taken even one-acre land of any farmer.  So, today after having such huge investment in port for infrastructure, the cost of the land increased.  So, you make allegations with the cost of land of today, but when we got the land and when it was not developed and if you take into consideration today’s cost, I think it is not fair.

If you don’t have dedication and hard work, infrastructure projects will never stand up.  Not only me, all my employees worked with me together, that is why Mundra Port has stood up.  I’m happy that we have developed it in such a way that in 10 years, it became the biggest port of India and not a single rupee is invested by Government.  Road, we made all the connections.  We have made private railway line of 100 KM.  We have made an airport there.  Government gave only the land, gave development right, rest nothing.  Whenever we needed any permission, whichever government was there in Gujarat, they helped us fully.

On the accusations of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal that Gautambhai paid Rs 1 lakh per acre to farmers for the land worth Rs 50 lakh to farmers in Gujarat, Adani said, “If such allegations were there, then forget about Kejriwal, that farmer himself would come and make the allegations.  Till date have you ever seen in papers that any farmer has any complaint against us in terms of acquisitions in Gujarat?

”Till date in Mundra we have not taken a single land from farmer.  Whichever land we have taken is a government, unsurveyed land on which the water from the sea used to come over that land and we have done the development by doing reclamation and that development is because of the 50,000 to 1 lakh crores of investment and the cost of the land increased a lot and the farmers are having all the benefits of that.  Today, I’m very happy that Adani Group in Mundra is able to do more and more development because of all the farmers and the community there with whom we are working hand-in-hand.

The country is progressing a lot.  We are celebrating 75 years of independence, it took 58 years since independence for India to achieve $1 trillion economy, it took another 12 years to achieve $2 trillion economy, and it took five years to achieve $3 trillion economy and I’m seeing that the way the aspiration of our youth is increasing and the position that India has today in the world, our economy will increase more than $30 trillion by 2050.  What is this $30 trillion economy showing, that your per capita income will grow and, with this development, job opportunities will increase.  I think that in the coming times with the governance, nobody can stop India, said Adani.

I’m a person from the ground, so in my every process, there is the common man in my eyes.  I will give you an example. On my 60th birthday just six months back, my family members were sitting 10 days before and family members were talking about what gift to be given to me on my 60th birthday.  So, I said if you want to give me a gift, so the wealth of our family that is there, give 60,000 crores from that to the Foundation.  This is not about me alone, it is my full family and with lot of joy they said this is a very good idea and they gave it.Whatever you feel from within you, you start with that.  So, when we put these 60,000 crores in the Foundation, we thought what to do now, how should we use it.  So, we took three sectors – health, education, and skill development.  We are talking with experts of these three sectors. You will see that in the coming 2-3 months, we will make a big announcement and use it in such a way the poorest of the poor will benefit.  I have in my mind how to use it for good.

About Priti Adani’s role in the Adani Foundation, Adani said, “Priti ji is my pillar and she fully looks after the family, two children, and takes care of my granddaughters also and she is a doctor.  She left her profession and is supporting me.  She fully supported the family, took care of the family, brought up the kids, and when the kids grew, she handled all the activities of the Foundation.  So, today I’m very satisfied that Priti is working the most on it daily 7-8 hours for foundation activities.  Secondly, in our foundation there is a lot of professionalism and under Priti’s guidance lots of development work is going on.”

On his lifestyle, Adani said, “Three days in a week I’m out of Ahmedabad, when I’m there for four days then I go late to the office at about 10:30 to 11 o’ clock because I come late at night at about 11 or 12.  In the morning, I get up at 6:30, I do exercise for one hour, after that 2 to 2½ hours, I talk with my wife, children, and granddaughter over the dining table, read newspapers.  So, I spend couple of hours with them.  Secondly, I have made a rule even if I’m in the office at lunch time my every family member is in the dining room who ever are available and we talk.  That is how basically I’m spending time with them.This is a secret, when I go at night, I play rummy paplu game with Preeti.  I play 8-10 games, and most of the time she wins.

About his role model, Adani said, “Dhirubhai Ambani.  I see him as a role model.  It is because in his tenure, Reliance Industries at that time the economy was not open, then afterwards opened, and the way he showed direction to the country about how to think big, I’m very much impressed by it because afterwards Mukeshbhai took it a lot further.  But from the first generation point of view and I can understand when you don’t have money, but thinking is very big, they always attract you and particularly the first-generation entrepreneurs like me, so I naturally see he has done very good work.”

“Mukeshbhai (Mukesh Ambani) is a very good friend of mine and I respect him a lot.  The new direction that he gave to Reliance Industries in Jio, technology, retail, and of course his conventional business petrochemicals and refinery, the way he has worked he has contributed a lot for the development of the country”

Judge Dr. Simrit Kaur, Principal, Shri Ram College of Commerce said, “Firstly, I would like to say that Rajat ji had serious accusations against you, but you have successfully answered.  First, he said you don’t talk, today there was someone who made you talk, and you talked a lot.  Second, he said everybody thinks you hide the formula of wealth, and I think within half a minute you told the whole formula, hard work, hard work, hard work, support of the family, and the blessings of the almighty.  Finally Sir, on your 60th birthday you gave 60,000 crores, in our house when we have a baby, we celebrate his first month birthday and second month also, so I request you to celebrate 60 years and one month too and 60 years two months also and live for thousands years with increasing the social entrepreneurship.  The work that you are doing in education, health, skill development takes it forward in the same speed in which you did for industrialization.  Thank you so much.”