How Vinod Adani Became the Richest NRI in the World

According to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022, Vinod Shantilal Adani has become the sixth richest Indian and the wealthiest Non-Resident Indian (NRI). Vinod Adani is considered to have a net worth of around Rs 1.69 lakh crores. His younger brother, Gautam Adani, is on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List. Gautam Adani has become the third-richest person and the wealthiest person in India. Today we will talk about Vinod Adani’s journey to becoming the richest NRI in the world. 

How Vinod Adani Became the Richest NRI in the World.
How Vinod Adani Became the Richest NRI in the World. image from arabianbusiness.com.

Vinod Shantilal Adani and his family have seen a 9.5-fold increase in wealth during the same period of time in which Gautam Adani and his family have seen a 15.4-fold increase. Vinod Adani started off with a textile business like his father in the 70s before his brother chose to move out into the diamond trade in the 80s. The older Adani leads the trading company with operations in Singapore and Jakarta from his new home in Dubai, where he moved in 1994. Vinod Adani, also known as Vinod Shantilal Shah, increased his wealth by Rs 37,400 crore over the course of the previous year, a 28% rise, by minting Rs 102 crore a day.

When both Adani brothers are considered, their combined wealth totals $12,63,400 crore, or just under 40% of the top 10 on the Hurun India Rich List 2022.

Vinod Adani began his career in 1976 with power looms in Bhiwandi, Mumbai, and later opened an office there to diversify his commodities holdings internationally. He eventually resided in Dubai and began trading in sugar, oil, aluminum, copper, and iron scrap after moving to Singapore to run the business.

Controversy 

Vinod Adani established a company in the well-known tax haven – the British Virgin Islands, according to the Pandora Papers which exposed owners of offshore companies and hidden bank accounts used for money laundering and corruption in 2021. Vinod Adani reportedly informed The Indian Express that the company had been shut down, despite the Adani group’s claim that it had no access to Vinod Adani’s “personal finance concerns.”

The DRI previously identified Vinod Adani’s Electrogen Infra FZE, situated in Dubai, as an intermediary used by the Adani Group to import overpriced machinery into India. The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal gave the group a clean bill of health in the lawsuit last month.

Before Pandora, Vinod Adani was previously identified in the same Panama Papers in 2016, which revealed that he established a business in the Bahamas, another tax haven, in 1994. Adani changed his name to Vinod Shantilal Shah two months later. The Adani Group then attempted to separate itself by claiming that Vinod Adani, an NRI for 30 years, had his own business established abroad.

With a net worth of almost Rs 1.65 lakh crore, the Hinduja brothers are second on the list. The steel magnate LN Mittal (worth Rs. 1.5 lakh crore), Jay Chaudhry, Anil Agarwal, Yusuff Ali, Shapoor Pallonji Mistry, Sri Prakash Lohia, Rakesh Gangwal, and Vivek Chaand Sehgal are the next group of businesspeople. 88% of the people on the NRI wealthy list are self-made. 

Anas Rahman Junaid, MD, and chief researcher, from Hurun India, said “From an Indian wealth creation perspective, 2022 will be remembered for Adani’s meteoric rise. Briskly expanding his commodity trading company into coal–to–port-to-energy conglomerate, he is the only Indian to have built not one, but seven companies with a market cap of one lakh crore.”

His older brother, Gautam Adani, serves as the chairman of The Adani Group. Overseeing part of the company’s international operations is Vinod. In September 2020, Gautam Adani purchased a 74% share in Mumbai International Airport, the second-busiest airport in India. He is presently the largest airport manager in the nation.

Gautam Adani intends to produce the most renewable energy in the world and has pledged to spend up to $70 billion on such endeavors. He entered the cement industry significantly in May 2022 when he beat out other bidders for the $10.5 billion opportunity to purchase Swiss multinational Holcim’s cement operations in India.

It is interesting to note that the two brothers operating out of different locations have had such extraordinary success. They have made it to the top of the lists worldwide. Stay tuned for more about the Adani brothers’ meteoric rise. 

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FAQs

Who is the older of the Adani brothers?

Vinod is the older of the two brothers.

Who is the wealthiest person in India?

Gautam Adani is the wealthiest man in India.

Who is the chairman of the Adani Group?

Gautam Adani is the chairman of the Adani Group.

Who oversees a part of the company’s international operations?

Vinod Adani oversees a part of the company’s international operations.

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