Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday raised questions about Industrialist Gautam Adani’s wealth increasing the most in the world so far in 2021.
In a tweet, the Congress leader said that while people are struggling, Adani’s wealth rose by 50%. “How much did your wealth grow in 2020,” Gandhi asked, sharing a news report about Adani’s income. “Zero. You are struggling to live while he earned Rs 12 lakh crores and he increases his wealth by 50%. Can you tell me why?”
Adani, who is currently the 26th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has added $16.2 billion (nearly Rs 1.18 lakh crore) to his wealth this year. His total net worth on Friday stood at $50 billion (approximately Rs 36.39 lakh crore).
To put Adani’s gains into perspective, the world’s richest person, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, has lost $7.59 billion (Rs 5.52 lakh crore), while the second richest person Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, has added $10.3 billion (nearly Rs 75,000 crore) to his wealth this year.
Adani Green Energy Ltd and Adani Ports account for more than half ($27 billion) of his total wealth. However, apart from ports and airports, he has also been adding data centres and coal mines to his business at a rapid pace in India.
Last year, Adani bid for as many as 12 of the 19 coal mines that went under the hammer in their first commercial auction in India. Shares of all Adani Group stocks, except one, have rallied at least 50% this year.
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