Gautam Adani
Founder and Chairman, Adani Group
Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad (school; left at 16)
Photo: Gautam Adani, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
About
Gautam Adani is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, the Ahmedabad-headquartered conglomerate whose businesses range from ports, airports and logistics to power generation and transmission, renewable energy, natural gas, cement, data centres and media. Born in Ahmedabad in 1962, he left school at 16 and moved to Mumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter. In 1981 he returned to Ahmedabad to run a plastics unit bought by his elder brother, which led him into importing PVC and polymers. In 1988 he set up Adani Exports, a commodity trading firm that is today Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship. After winning the contract to develop Mundra port in Gujarat in the mid-1990s, the group built India's largest private port operator, Adani Ports and SEZ, and set up Adani Power in 1996. Later expansion included solar and wind power, the operation of Mumbai airport from 2020, and the 2022 purchase of Ambuja Cements and ACC from Holcim. The company describes him as a first-generation entrepreneur. In 2026 Forbes India reported that the group was investing $100 billion in AI infrastructure.
Timeline: 1978, moves to Mumbai and works in the diamond trade; 1981, manages his brother's plastics unit in Ahmedabad; 1988, founds Adani Exports (now Adani Enterprises); 1995, begins developing Mundra port; 1996, Adani Power founded; 2006, enters power generation; 2020, takes a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport and wins a large solar award from SECI; 2022, acquires Ambuja Cements and ACC. The group says it now comprises twelve listed companies.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
