India’s Top 100 Billionaires: Gautam Adani weathered a storm to become India’s second-richest man

ADANI GROUP chairman Gautam Adani is a man of resilience when it comes to adversities and business decisions. The 63-year-old has built a massive business empire over nearly four decades, with a wealth of ₹9,11,058 crore ($106.23 billion) as on June 30, 2025, according to the 2025 Fortune India-Waterfield Advisors study of India’s Top 100 Billionaires, making him the second-richest Indian after RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. However, Adani’s journey has not been without controversies and setbacks. In January 2023, U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, wiping out over ₹7 lakh crore ($82.9 billion) in investor wealth across its 10 listed companies, and leading to a sharp erosion of Adani’s net worth. In February that year, the group shelved its record ₹20,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO), returning funds to investors. This was followed by bribery allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Adani Green Energy in November, involving ₹2,000 crore in energy contracts. But Adani remained calm, infused personal capital into businesses, and gave investors confidence, explaining the financial strength, fundamentals and core competencies of the group. He raised an additional ₹40,000 crore to cover debt payment for two years and pre-paid ₹17,500 crore in margin-linked financing to strengthen liquidity and ensure healthy cash flow. By early January of 2025, Hindenburg had shut down its operations, and no Adani officials were found guilty in the U.S. proceedings. Despite the turmoil, the group’s businesses showed strong growth, boosting investor confidence. Net revenues from operations grew 7% year-on-year to ₹3.46 lakh crore in FY25, while adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) rose 8.2% to hit a record ₹89,806 crore, according to database provider Capitaline. A story of grit, determination During the recent annual general meeting of the group’s flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), Adani told shareholders, “As a youngster, I saw my mother as my guiding star. I recall her often saying: ‘History does not remember sailors who sailed in still waters, it remembers those who fought the wildest storms and yet returned home.” Starting as a small-time trader in 1988, Adani diversified into business adjacencies, realising that trading alone would not bring big value. From coal trading, he forayed into thermal power, transmission & distribution (T&D), and finally into renewable energy. His first major venture was a JV with Singapore-based agri-business major Wilmar International to set up agri-refineries in India. In renewables, Adani expanded into wind and solar equipment manufacturing, building a full value chain, including copper. In logistics, he capitalised on opportunities in ports — starting with Mundra — SEZs, transportation, airports, and roads. He also diversified into mining, cement, defence, and newer sectors such as data centres. All these ventures were strategically aligned with India’s infrastructure creation and its long-term growth story. He forayed into mammoth projects, set tough deadlines and ensured his team executed mega infra projects timely, and well ahead of schedule. “If you get into a pipe, you cannot return, and will die if you cannot get out at the other end. That is my business philosophy,” Adani told Fortune India during an earlier interview. At the core What has helped Adani is the stable performance of his core infrastructure companies in utilities (Adani Power Ltd, Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Total Gas Ltd, and Adani Energy Solutions Ltd), transport (Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd) and AEL. The core infrastructure business contributed almost 82% to the group’s Ebitda in FY25. “Continued industry-beating return on assets (RoA) of 16.5%, among the highest in any infrastructure business globally, underpinned the attractive asset base and the execution capabilities of the Adani portfolio,” says Jugeshinder ‘Robbie’ Singh, group chief financial officer, Adani Group. The group’s gross assets (across listed companies) increased to ₹6.09 lakh crore in FY25, a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% since FY20. Net profit and Ebitda saw a CAGR of 48.5% (₹41,880 crore in FY25) and 24% during the period. Flagship AEL recorded net revenues of ₹97,895 crore with PAT of ₹7,112 crore in FY25, compared with ₹96,421 crore and ₹3,240 crore in FY24, respectively. Other core businesses are also doing well. Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd (APSEZ), led by Gautam Adani’s eldest son Karan, remains a key performer. In FY25, APSEZ’s net revenues rose nearly 14% YoY to ₹30,475 crore, while PAT surged 37% to a record ₹11,092 crore. Cargo volume hit an all-time high of 450 MMT (million metric tonnes), with Mundra becoming India’s first port to handle 200 MMT in a single year. APSEZ aims to become the world’s most integrated ports and logistics platform by 2030, and is targeting over 1 billion MMT in annual cargo, 300-plus goods trains, 20 logistics parks, a 5,000-plus truck fleet, 20 million sq. ft of warehousing, and increase in marine services revenue. Backed by three acquisitions in the recent past, thermal electricity maker Adani Power’s operating capacity grew from 15.25 GW (gigawatt) in FY24 to 17.55 GW in FY25 and crossed 100 billion units of generation, the first by any private Indian company. Net profit rose to ₹12,939 crore on net revenues of over ₹56,203 crore. Adani Power is eyeing 31 GW in capacity by 2030. Adani Green Energy, meanwhile, is building the world’s largest renewable energy park at Khavda, Gujarat, where it has commissioned over 5,355.9 MW (megawatt). The company is India’s largest renewable energy producer with over 15,000 MW of installed capacity, 3,309 MW added in FY25 alone. The target is to reach an ambitious 50 GW by 2030. “In fact, when we combine our thermal, renewable and pumped hydro generation capacities, we expect to have a 100-GW capacity by 2030,” Adani told shareholders at the AEL AGM. Adani Green Energy reported FY25 net revenues of ₹11,212 crore and a PAT of ₹1,444 crore. Adani Energy Solutions also saw strong growth, posting ₹23,767 crore in net revenues and ₹1,060 crore in PAT. The company has secured nearly ₹44,000 crore in transmission orders, and is executing smart metering projects worth ₹13,600 crore. AWL Agri Business (earlier Adani Wilmar Ltd), which houses the group’s FMCG businesses, including edible oils, food and industry essentials, posted net revenues of ₹63,672 crore in FY25, a growth of 24% from ₹51,225 crore in FY24. Adani Total Gas, a relatively small business with ₹5,000 crore in revenues, now serves 1 million PNG customers and runs 3,400 EV charging stations across 22 states. Nurturing new businesses Among the incubating businesses under AEL, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) is already the largest private airport operator, handling a record 94 million passengers in FY25. Total income from the airport business grew 27% to ₹10,224 crore in FY25. The greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will open in September with an initial passenger capacity of 20 million, which will increase to 90 million in five phases, giving Adani a 35% share of India’s airport passenger traffic. Recently, AAHL secured $1 billion in financing for the modernisation of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) and other airports. Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL), the other incubating business of the group, is scaling up globally in electrolyser and solar module manufacturing. Module sales rose 59% to 4,263 MW in capacity in FY25, with a 10-GW integrated solar module facility set to be operational next year. Its wind division also expanded capacity to 2.25 GW. Overall, ANIL’s revenues grew 63% to ₹14,236 crore in FY25, up from ₹8,741 crore in FY24. In mining, the natural resources business produced a record 47 MT (million tonnes) of coal and iron ore and is on track to achieve over 30% growth by FY26. Adani Connex, meanwhile, is building data centres in Pune, Hyderabad, and Noida. In defence, Adani has started a missile and arms manufacturing complex in Kanpur, besides several other facilities for drones and aerospace, mainly in Hyderabad. In road construction, Adani clocked 2,410 line-km in FY25. While mining, defence, and digital infrastructure continue to gain momentum, the cement business has also emerged as a key driver of the group’s growth strategy. It forayed into the cement business two-and-a-half years ago with the acquisition of Holcim’s India businesses, Ambuja Cements and ACC, with plans to double capacity to 140 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) by FY27-28. “We have already achieved 72% of that target, and crossed the 100-MTPA milestone,” Adani said at the AEL AGM. ACC Ltd had net revenues of ₹21,762 crore in FY25, compared with ₹19,959 crore in the previous year. “But perhaps our most transformative project is unfolding in Dharavi — Asia’s largest slum, now being reimagined as India’s most ambitious urban rehabilitation project. Our Dharavi Social Mission is uplifting youth through skilling, healthcare and employment programmes. Over 1 million people will move from narrow lanes to a township that will feature spacious layouts, dual toilets, open spaces, schools, hospitals, transit hubs and parks,” Adani said. Privately held Adani Realty is also developing several projects across India. Adani says he has lined up an annual capex spend of $15–20 billion for the next five years. “These are not just investments in our group, but investments in the possibilities for doing our part to build India’s infrastructure.” It means Gautam Adani’s tryst with mega infra creation is set to continue. Fortune India is now on WhatsApp! 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India’s Top 100 Billionaires: Gautam Adani weathered a storm to become India’s second-richest man

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