Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man, has bet big on India’s growth, predicting that the country will add $1 trillion to its gross domestic product every 12-18 months over the next decade, given its large middle class and youth population.
“This century belongs to India,” Adani said during an interview with local news channel India Today late Wednesday. The first-generation entrepreneur also sees the South Asian country as becoming an exporter of green hydrogen, adding that the government’s production-related incentive scheme makes business more vibrant and attractive.
Adani has seen an acquisitions boom over the past year, buying assets in cement, media and port companies in Israel, and has been the most active dealmaker in Asia this year, adding at least $40 billion in wealth as he expands his empire. This coincided with a time when billionaires elsewhere were losing huge amounts of money.
However, the explosive speed with which Adani expanded has raised eyebrows, with analysts highlighting the increased leverage and financial complexity that followed the asset withdrawal.
“For the past nine years, our earnings have been growing at twice the rate of our debt,” Adani reported in the interview, adding, “That’s why our debt-to-EBITDA ratio has fallen from 7.6 to 3.2, which is healthy. It is very important for a large group, as most of the companies work in the field of infrastructure.”
Adani also noted that New Delhi Television, his most recent acquisition, would remain editorially independent, as the deal raised concerns about curtailing media freedom because NDTV is seen as one of the few media outlets critical of Relative to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, Adani has often linked his institutional strategy to the Modi government’s initiatives and nation-building priorities.
“Regarding editorial independence, let me categorically say that TV will be a reliable and independent global network,” according to Adani.