Year Ender 2021: If 2020 Belonged To Ambani, 2021 Was The Year Of Adani. Who Will Win The Race In 2022?

With a personal net worth of $77 billion as of December 29, Adani is ranked as Asia’s third-richest after Mukesh Ambani ($90.9 billion) and Chinese billionaire Zhong Shanshan ($78.6 billion)

Gautam Adani briefly became Asia’s richest on November 24, dethroning Mukesh Ambani as his wealth of $89.1 billion surpassed Ambani’s during the intra-day trading.

Mumbai: If 2020 belonged to Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani, 2021 was the year of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, who added the most wealth among Indian billionaires and is among the top 5 global billionaires. 

Gautam Adani has added over $44 billion to his fortune this year, compared to the $14 billion added by Mukesh Ambani. The four billionaires who added more wealth than Adani in 2021 include the world’s richest Elon Musk, who added $123 billion, followed by French billionaire Bernard Arnault $60.9 billion, Larry Page $47.4, and Sergy Brin $45.1 billion. 

Adani briefly became Asia’s richest on November 24, dethroning Mukesh Ambani as his wealth of $89.1 billion surpassed Mukesh Ambani’s during the intra-day trading.

With a personal net worth of $77 billion as of December 29, Adani is ranked as Asia’s third-richest after Mukesh Ambani ($90.9 billion) and Chinese billionaire Zhong Shanshan ($78.6 billion).

Adani v/s Ambani

Mukesh Ambani chairs Reliance Industries, India’s most valued firm with a market capitalisation of Rs 16.25 trillion. At the same time, Gautam Adani is chairman of Adani Group, and the listed entities of Adani Group are valued at over Rs 10 trillion.

Ambani owns the world’s largest oil refining complex, accounting for India’s largest private sector oil imports. At the same time, Adani is the largest port operator in India. Adani is also India’s largest closely held thermal coal producer and is the largest coal trader.

The rise of Indian billionaires came when the net worth of most Chinese billionaires shrank this year amid a regulatory crackdown on big tech firms and the possible default of the country’s leading realty firm, Evergrande.  

Going green  

Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani — Asia’s richest and third richest, now compete to claim the title of the world leader in renewable energy.

Both Ambani and Adani have announced investments of $10 billion and $20 billion, respectively, in the renewable energy sector this year in a bid to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to more than quadruple renewable power capacity to 450 gigawatts by the end of this decade. That requires nearly $650 billion in investment across the power sector, according to BloombergNEF.  

India has yet set a net-zero emissions target, but its key firms are leading the way, with plans to invest billions of dollars in a decarbonisation industry. 

With the COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow coming up within a few weeks, India is under pressure from world leaders to commit to a net-zero goal, said a Bloomberg report last week.

Despite India’s per capita income being around $2,000 while the world average is around $12,000, the country’s power consumption per capita is only one-third of global consumption.  

According to Mukesh Ambani, this “Wealth Disparity and Energy Disparity” is unacceptable.  

Those who criticize India’s reluctance to adopt western advice on climate change directly must deeply consider the disparity in the situation, noted Adani. It is impractical to suggest alternatives that the developing world cannot use and afford.  

“In my country, more than a quarter-billion households and millions of small businesses that generate jobs rely on the availability of cheaply produced electricity. To switch off that power source without an economical alternative in place would put hundreds of millions of people on an accelerated path to darkness, and there are several other nations in the same situation,” said Adani.  

Crucial quotes 

“We are highly inspired by the goal set by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji for India to achieve 450Gw of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Out of this, I am pleased to announce that Reliance will establish and enable at least 100Gw of solar energy by 2030. A significant part of this will come from rooftop solar and decentralised solar installations in villages. These will bring enormous benefits and prosperity to rural India,” Mukesh Ambani announced during the Reliance AGM in June. He plans to infuse more than $10 billion into the renewable energy business in the next three years.  

Within weeks Gautam Adani announced $20 billion in the renewable energy sector. “We will invest over $20 billion across renewable energy generation, component manufacturing, transmission & distribution over the next 10 years,” said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group, while addressing the JP Morgan India Investor Summit recently.

According to Adani, the Group is well on track to be the world's largest renewable power generating company by 2030.  

Without naming Ambani, Adani said, “It’s not just us. Others, too, among India's strongest conglomerates, have announced significant plans in the renewable energy space. As the nation's industrial giants pool its resources together, I have very little doubt that India will continue to be a beacon of hope in the mission to build a more sustainable world. We are in a position to set an example for most major nations of the world to follow." 

Race to richest 

According to Bloomberg estimates, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, 64, is Asia’s richest person with a fortune of $90.9 billion as of December 29. Ambani, who is ranked 12th in the Bloomberg billionaires index, had a wealth of $103 billion as of October 19, making it to the coveted $100 billion club.  

Ambani’s fortune fell to $36.8 billion in April 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on Reliance shares. However, Ambani’s record $44.4 billion fundraising through equity in Jio Platforms and Retail, rights issue, and asset monetization during the pandemic made Ambani Asia’s richest with a net worth of $84.5 billion as of April 2021, according to Forbes.

Adani, the 59-year old billionaire who had a net worth of $8.9 billion in April 2020, saw more than a fivefold jump in his fortune to $50.5 billion in April 2021 as he diversified from coal producer to become a promoter of India’s largest renewable firm Adani Green Energy Limited.

  Similarities 

• Both Ambani and Adani hail from Gujarat, also home to Prime Minister Narendra Modi  
• Both billionaires are perceived to be closer to Modi as they invested billions in Gujarat when Modi was the state’s chief minister  
• Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance operates the world’s largest refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, while Adani Group has its corporate headquarters in Ahmedabad, Gujarat  
• Both the billionaires are religious and follow a vegetarian diet 
• Adani is a college dropout who spurned his father’s textile shop to set up a commodities export firm in 1988. Ambani is a Stanford dropout and counts Steve Balmer as his classmate. He had to leave his studies to help his father oversee the construction of a polyester plant