Gautam Adani is not a small name in India or even the world. From renewable power generation, natural gas to port and terminals, the Adani Group has a presence across a host of sectors and now is planning to invest a whopping sum in the petrochemical business batting on “huge demand”
The group led by India’s richest billionaire is considering an investment of over $4 billion in a petrochemical complex at his Mundra port and special economic zone in Gujarat. However, Adani isn’t of the view that his moving into the sector will lead to serious competition with fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
India doesn’t have sufficient hydrocarbons, Adani said in an interview with the Financial Times on Friday, revealing that he wants to build an ethane cracker, part of the industrial process to turn natural gas into plastics, alongside a coal-to-PVC plant already under construction.
Ambani’s RIL had set up an ethane cracker in 2017. “There is no competition. India is a huge growth market and everybody is welcome,” the 60-year-old industrialist said.
Super app soon
Adani, who is also Asia’s richest person, is also aiming at rolling out a “super app” in the next three to six months to connect Adani airport passengers with other Adani Group services.
Adani on NDTV’s acquisition
In his interview with FT, the billionaire industrialist also talked about the acquisition of leading Indian broadcaster NDTV. “Why can’t you support one media house to become independent and have a global footprint?” asked the billionaire, whose group’s open offer for the broadcast network is open till December 5.
India does not have one single [outlet] to compare to Financial Times or Al Jazeera, Adani said that the purchase of NDTV is a “responsibility” rather than a business opportunity. “Independence means if government has done something wrong, you say it’s wrong. But at the same time, you should have courage when the government is doing the right thing every day,” the industrialist told the publication.
Adani had invited NDTV owner-founder Prannoy Roy to remain as chair and shared that the cost of creating an international media group would be “negligible” for the Adani Group. Worth noting here is that Adani’s AMG Media Network also bought a stake this year in business news platform BQ Prime.
Adani’s global expansion
It had emerged last month that the conglomerate is expected to invest over $150 billion across businesses such as airports, green energy, airports, and healthcare in a bid to get a $1-trillion valuation tag. The Adani Group is not shying away from going global and as it looks at winning port contracts in Sri Lanka and develop a power plant in India to supply neighbouring Bangladesh.
In addition, the conglomerate is “eyeing up entering the power sector in Israel” and is “likely” to bid for a gas-based power project, the industrialist shared.
Meanwhile, Adani recently said that India will become a $30 trillion economy by 2050 — a nearly 10-fold jump from its current size — driven by rising consumption and social and economic reforms. India’s gross domestic product may start expanding by $1 trillion every 12 to 18 months within the next decade.
