Breaking Boundaries: The Power of Passion and Unconventional Paths to Success

Esteemed faculty, honoured guests, and my dear students,

Let me start by wishing all teachers present here a very happy Teacher’s Day!

It’s a great honour to address all of you at the Jai Hind College. This institution, born from the ashes of India’s partition, is a great example of the resilience of human spirit.

I find it fascinating that, 75 years ago, two visionary professors from the D J Sind College in Karachi laid the foundation for this institution in two tiny rooms.

Despite the immense challenges and human displacement happening during the partition of our country, they dreamed of a future where the force of education could heal and unite.

I therefore stand here today, humbled and thankful to have been invited by Shri Vikram Nankani to share my experiences from this historic platform.

Just as the Jai Hind College was built on the principle of breaking boundaries and creating new possibilities, the theme of my talk today will focus on some of my own inspirations that allowed me to break my boundaries.

And over the next 40 minutes, as I share my journey of entrepreneurship, I hope the stories will leave you with some learnings.

My dear friends, we all need role models in our lives. Imagine a young boy faced with a choice between the expectations of his surroundings and an inner calling. This narrative is not restricted to any single person but is a theme we have seen happen all across history.

Consider the early titans of the US industry such as John D Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt or Andrew Carnegie, who built the infrastructure that shaped the future of the United States, or our own visionary leaders like JRD Tata, GD Birla, and Dhirubhai Ambani, who played invaluable roles in transforming India’s economic landscape.

These leaders did more than just build businesses. They established legacies. Their journeys were filled with challenges and criticism, yet their guts to tackle the impossible transformed ordinary ambition into extraordinary legacies.

They showed that the true measure of a leader is not in their titles but in the legacies they leave behind.

And as I stand before you today, I would like to emphasize a few points that often go unspoken. It is easy to criticize the present, but history has a way of highlighting the profound contributions of those who dared to break boundaries.

It is said that the wisdom of our saints and prophets, is only recognized long after their time. Likewise, I believe that the real impact of the achievements of visionaries is also often realized not during their lifetimes but only after they are gone.

My dear friends, I was just 16 years old when I chose to break my first boundary. It had to do with giving up my education and choosing to move to an unknown future in Mumbai. People still ask me, “Why did you move to Mumbai? Why did you not complete your education?”

The answer – lies in the heart of every young dreamer who sees boundaries not as barriers but as challenges that test his courage. I was driven by a need to see if I had the courage to make a life for myself in the most happening city of our country.

Mumbai is more than just a city for me. It was my training ground for business. It is here that I learned to sort and trade in diamonds. The field of trading makes a good teacher. I learnt very early that an entrepreneur can never be frozen by over-evaluating the choices in front of him.

It is Mumbai that taught me “To think big, you must first dare to dream beyond your boundaries.”

But life has a way of taking unexpected turns. Just as I was turning 19, I was called back by my elder brother to assist in running our small-scale PVC film factory situated near Ahmedabad. The business was faced with many challenges primarily due to extreme Government control and restrictive import policies, leading to severe shortages of raw materials. This was my first real encounter with the limitations of the business environment in India.

Yet, it was also an early lesson that laid the ground for the next set of businesses I was to start on.

The mid-1980s marked the beginning of a transformation in India. In 1985, under the leadership of Shri Rajiv Gandhi, the country took its first steps towards economic liberalization. The easing of import policies opened up new possibilities for businesses. Having run our PVC factory, I understood the pains of the small-scale import sector and therefore despite having no prior experience in trading I saw an opportunity in this environment of new policy. I took a leap and established a trading organization for importing polymers to supply to the struggling small-scale industries.

By the time I turned 23, my trading venture was doing well. Then came 1991, when India faced a severe foreign exchange crisis that brought the country to the brink of economic collapse.

It was during this crisis that Shri PV Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister, and Dr Manmohan Singh, the finance minister, outlined a series of bold economic reforms. These reforms included reducing import tariffs, deregulating industries, opening up the economy to foreign investments, and encouraging public-private partnerships in infrastructure development.

Every nation has its transformative years that change the direction of its future. 1947 was about a free India. 1991 was about liberalization of our businesses. And in 2014, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the essence of freedom was further accelerated as reforms and decisive governance took centre stage. All these years stand as turning points, each building on the other in India’s remarkable journey.

Reflecting on the events between 1985 and 1991, it is clear to me that these were more than just moments of economic change. They were forces that reshaped the business landscape of India and laid the foundation for India’s transformation. These reforms marked the end of the ‘License Raj’, a period defined by excess regulation and control over the Indian economy. Many of the established business houses that had grown large since independence failed to evolve and recognize the significance of the policy changes. They held on to the status quo, unable to evolve, and over time, became weak or irrelevant. Meanwhile, those who dared to break boundaries capitalized on the opportunities and set themselves up for success.

Looking back, we were one of them. In every crisis lies the potential for reinvention and it is our courage during these moments of truth that defines the path to greatness.

For me, the liberalization of 1991 was my second big break. At 29, I established a global trading house dealing in polymers, metals, textiles, and agri-products.

Within two years, we had become the largest global trading house in the country. This is when I understood the combined value of both speed and scale.

Thereafter, in 1994, we decided it was time to go public, and Adani Exports now known as Adani Enterprises launched its IPO. The IPO was a strong success and underscored for me the importance of public markets.

However, while we had been a beneficiary of the economic reforms I began to realize the limitations of our business model. Trading, by its very nature, is volatile. To build a stable and sustainable enterprise and gain the confidence of the markets, I recognized that we needed to invest in assets that would provide a solid foundation for growth. I realized that to break the next set of boundaries, I would have to first start with challenging my own status quo.

The future belongs to those who dare to see beyond the present, who recognize that today’s limits are tomorrow’s starting points.

And my third major break was about to come – one that would propel us into a new orbit.

This realization prompted the next critical shift in our business model. In 1995, the Gujarat government announced its port-led industrial development plan through public-private partnerships.

Around that time, we had been approached by the global commodities trader Cargill. It was a proposal to partner for manufacturing and sourcing salt from the Kutch region. While the partnership did not materialize, we were left with about 40,000 acres of marshy land and approval to build a captive jetty at Mundra for the export of salt.

What others saw as marshy barren land, we saw as a canvas waiting to be transformed. That canvas is now by far our nation’s largest port!

Mundra became my karmabhoomi and made my vision a reality a powerful testimony to the fact what you dream, you create, and what you think, you become.

Mundra today hosts India’s largest port, the largest industrial Special Economic Zone, the largest container terminals, the largest thermal power plant, the largest solar manufacturing facility, the largest copper plant, and the largest edible oil refinery. And yet, we’re only about 10% of what Mundra will eventually become.

It stands as a living monument to the power of integrated business models and the strategic value of adjacencies challenging the very concept of core competencies that the west advocates.

My dear friends, over the years, I learned a vital lesson. The bigger your bets, bigger are the boundaries you break and bigger the boundaries you break, lesser is the competition.

Picture Khavda in Kutch, one of the world’s most inhospitable deserts, now transformed into the world’s biggest Renewable Energy installation, spanning several hundred square kilometres. Khavda is not just another project it is a vision. Already generating more than 3,000 MW of clean energy – and on track to reach 30 GW in the next five years there is no parallel to Khavda today. For us, Khavda is a symbol of national pride capturing the philosophy of everything that the Adani Group as a company stands for.

Or consider the world’s most complex redevelopment project in Mumbai’s Dharavi, where we are transforming the world’s largest slum over the next decade to create an unmatched ecosystem of sustainable living.

For me, Dharavi is not just about urban renewal. It is about restoring dignity to over one million residents of our country. It is about the possibilities when you dare to dream big and act with purpose.

My dear friends, while we have helped redefine India’s infrastructure across airports, ports, logistics, industrial parks and energy it is not the victories that define us. It is the mindset to take on and overcome challenges that has shaped the Adani Group’s journey.

Over the years, we have assembled a set of leaders who dare to repeatedly venture into the unknown. Even in the face of unprecedented challenges, it is their guts that inspire others to rise. This form of leadership is the very essence of what defines the Adani Group.

And our leadership spirit was never more visible than during the financial market attack in January last year. It was a short-selling attack initiated from abroad. This was not a typical financial strike. It was a dual assault targeting our financial stability and pulling us into a political storm. It was a calculated move, timed just days before the close of our Follow-on Public Offer and designed to cause maximum damage – and further amplified by certain media with vested interests.

In the middle of all this turbulence, we made an extraordinary decision. After successfully raising Rs 20,000 crore through India’s largest-ever FPO, we decided to return the proceeds as a sign of commitment to the values we hold. Moreover, to prove our resilience, we raised several thousand crores from other sources and proactively reduced our Debt to EBITDA ratio to below 2.5 times an unmatched number even for the strongest of infrastructure companies across the world.

Moreover, our all-time record financial results delivered in the midst of the attack showcased our commitment to operational excellence and was best validated by the tremendous support from the global rating agencies, the financial community, and investors like GQG Partners, TotalEnergies, IHC, QIA, and the US Development Finance Corporation.

The Supreme Court of India’s affirmation of our actions was the final vindication of our approach.

However, the most profound lesson from this trial was that: Breaking real boundaries is not about overcoming external challenges. It is about shattering the mental barriers. When the world says you cannot rise that’s when the real test of resilience begins.

Resilience is not about avoiding the falls. It is about rising stronger after every fall. It’s about pushing through the impossible and emerging stronger on the other side.

My dear friends, before I start wrapping up, I want to talk about the biggest boundary that we must all collectively break. And this is the boundary that makes us a nation which is 100% literate and has zero poverty. I strongly believe that breaking this boundary sets us on the path of becoming the superpower that we have always aspired to be.

And as a nation – we have never been closer to this aspiration than today. We stand on the brink of an incredible period, where India is poised to become one of the greatest growth platforms the world will have ever witnessed. Our nation’s greatest strength lies in its youth. A functioning democracy’s biggest advantage is the dynamism that comes about because of its demographic dividend.

I started my journey at just 16, and I have always believed in the power of our young generation. Today, with a median age of just 29, India is positioned to be the world’s largest consumer society by 2050 – the key driving force behind unprecedented economic growth. It is a staggering projection that even in 2050, our median age will be only 39 years. Nothing can be more empowering than being the largest global population that is fully literate, has zero poverty and a median age of less than 40.

What makes India’s growth even more certain and exciting is the tremendous momentum driven by our digital transformation. Over the past decade we have built a formidable digital infrastructure that is now the envy of the world.

Take UPI. It is a revolution in digital finance that has made seamless transactions a way of life for millions. Also, our leadership in mobile technology has further empowered every corner of our nation, making digital inclusion a reality.

And this is just the beginning. According to a 2023 report by the prestigious Australian Strategic Policy Institute, India now ranks among the top five nations in 45 out of 64 critical technologies.

Over the past decade, India has transformed from a being a minor player to becoming a formidable global contender, strongly positioned across a broad spectrum of technology related fields including space exploration, defence, quantum technology, and artificial intelligence. The future is brilliantly digital, and I strongly believe India is leading the charge.

My dear friends, it is well established now that by the end of this decade, India is set to be the world’s third-largest economy. With the government in its third term, India is also positioned to consolidate the several groundbreaking initiatives launched by the Government and continue the economic and social programs that have driven our spectacular journey over the past decade.

The trend lines are clear. Following our independence, it took us 58 years to reach our first trillion dollars of GDP, 12 years for the next trillion, and just 5 years for the third. I anticipate that within the next decade, India will begin adding a trillion dollars to its GDP every 18 months putting us on track to become a 25 to 30 trillion-dollar economy by 2050. This pace and scale of growth will drive incredible possibilities for all of us.

Yes, we will have our challenges like every nation does. However, given the all-round progress we have witnessed over the past decade, we can be optimistic that we will have the economic strength to work through the challenges.

Therefore, as I close, let me take you back to the two Professors Dr TM Advani and Dr Mohinder Morton who founded this college. On this Teachers Day, just as they did, let every teacher present here continue to inspire, guide, and empower the young minds of our nation.

Every action we take and every boundary we break, is not just for ourselves, but for the generations that will follow. It is for the India we will leave behind. A nation that is not just free, but truly developed, where every citizen has the opportunity to succeed.

A democracy whose time has come cannot be stopped and India’s time has arrived. The future is ours to create and the boundaries we break today will define the India of tomorrow.

Thank you

Jai Hind.

Chairman Gautam Adani’s Address

Jai Hind College, Mumbai, 5 September 2024.