BS People: Gautam Adani

Docking on an overseas harbour

Adani group recently became India’s first port company to acquire a port outside the country – the Abbott Point Port in Australia. Gautam Adani, the 48-year-old chairman of the Ahmedabad-based company was declared the seventh-richest Indian by Forbes in September 2010 and the second-richest by Business Standard in December 2010.

Born in a family of oilseed traders, Adani moved to Mumbai after completing his matriculation and got a job as a diamond sorter. He had to drop out of college at the age of 19 due to family reasons and manage a plastic manufacturing unit in Ahmedabad. It was during this stint that Adani got into the trade of raw materials and started the Adani group. Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship company of the Adani group that was incorporated over two decades back and listed on stock exchanges in 1992 today has business interests ranging from energy to infrastructure and commodities.

Adani is known for his knack for identifying opportunities and encouraging his employees to work as entrepreneurs. Adani’s business interests include power, infrastructure, trading, power, energy logistics, sezs, and oil and gas exploration. He is also the man behind Mundra Port, the largest private sector port in India.

Adani likes to spend his spare time with his family — sons Karan and Jeet and wife Priti, who looks after Adani Foundation involved in developmental activities for people residing in the neighborhood of its project sites. The Foundation supports efforts in the development of society in the areas of rural infrastructure, livelihood activities, education, and community health.