By Malavika Kaur Makol and Muneeza Naqvi
Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani is betting big on India’s growth and believes the country will add a trillion dollars to its GDP every 12 to 18 months within the next decade given its large middle class and young 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 nation becoming a green hydrogen exporter, adding that a government production-linked incentive plan makes the business viable and attractive.
Adani has been on an acquisition spree over the past year, buying assets in cement, media, and a port in Israel. He’s been Asia’s busiest deal maker this year, adding at least $40 billion in wealth while expanding his empire. This comes even as billionaires elsewhere have lost money.
However, the breakneck speed of expansion has raised eyebrows, with analysts highlighting the increased leverage and financial complexity that has come along with the asset haul.
“In the past nine years our profit has been growing at twice the rate of our debt,” Adani said in the interview. “Because of this, our debt-to-Ebitda ratio has come down from 7.6 to 3.2, which is very healthy for a large group where most of the companies are in the infrastructure space.”
Adani also said that New Delhi Television Ltd., his latest acquisition, would remain editorially independent. The deal had stoked worries about muzzling media freedom because NDTV is seen as one of the few news outlets relatively critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration. Adani has often dovetailed his corporate strategy to the Modi government’s initiatives and nation-building priorities.
“On editorial independence, let me say categorically that NDTV will be a credible, independent global network,” Adani said during the interview.