WHY IS A.M. NAIK CHURNS HBR: SIX MISTAKES IN SPLITTING l&T? AT THE TOP RISK MANAGEMENT

'Boom Babies' of Economic Reform ~ ew Business Families

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60 IlUSINESS TOJ)AY April 17 lO l l COVER STORY New Business Families

Power Point is building an integrated operation for his group in power, oil and gas, and agriculture. By ANAND ADHIKARI ADANIGROUP (' Founder: n August last year. Gaulam Shanlital ered to in terve ne," says a top executive, Gautam Shantilal Adani, 48 Adclil i. the 48-year-old chairman of poinling OLil that Adani al\'vays supports and Wife: Priti manages Adani Adcll1i Group. was vacationing in trusts hi s core team once he is convinced Foundation London with his wife and two sons about a project or an idea. Son: Karan handles when he received a call from one of Adani's busi ness acumen has ensured a the ports business his senior executives. The company meteoric rise for his group over the past Brolher: Rajesh oversees \oVCl S in the I1nal stages of negotiations with couple of decades, The corpora te journey of the trading business Australia-based Line for its assets this college dropout has been nothing short Nephew: Pranav looks after and Adani's assent \vas crucial. The ca ll of spectacular - from a small-time dia­ the agri business lasted jllst a few minutes. The terse message monel traeler in the eighties to running a to the caller: "Go ahead." 'O.OOO-crore trading house by the turn of Tolal Turnover: It was one of the largest deals fo r a coal the century to a ,28,000-crore conglomer­ <,>8,000 crore in 2009/10 mine by an liulian group - Ada ni ate ,·vith interests in ports, , pmver En terprises paid '{12.600 crore in cash and generation, oil and gas exploration and dis­ Main Companies: royalty for the mine. But the Ad ani Group tribution. and real estate today, Adani Enterprises, Adani founder never sat for the negotiations nor Tn the early 1980s. a teenaged , Adani Wilmer, and met Lin e Energy's negotiators. "Ga utambhai came to 1j'0111 to dabble Port and SEZ was very much in the loop, but never both- in the diamond business. "I was given

64 BUS INESS TODAY April 17 201 I Business Families ~w ---

freedom by my family to pursue my ambi­ "\l\1c are looking at more ports on the eastern tions," he says. The young Adani initially coast of ." says B. Ravi. Chief financial honed his skills as a diamond sorter while omcer. The group is also scouting for ports observing how the trade was being carried overseas. especially in Australia \\Ihere they Ollt. Soon he graduated to diamond trading. have recently bought coal mines. Tn 1988. he started Adani Exports. a Shipping 'I\'as the missing component in partnership trading firm in Ahmedabad the group's busi n esses but alt that may dealing in agricultural products. dye inter­ change soon. The group today has to char­ mediates and plastic products. with a seed ter behveen 60 and 70 ships for its trading capital of ~5 lakh. The business flo urished. operation s. "\Ne plan to buy 20 ships by and as the group expanded at a scorching 2020. Two are already sailing." in forms pace. Adani's family joined the business. Adani. Rajesh. his 46-year-old brother is today Realty is a nother foc us area. The group Managing Director of Adani Enterprises and is implementing the biggest integ rated tmvn­ Adan i Power. Nephew Pran av joined the ship project in Ahmedabad spread over 60 fa mily busin ess after completing his business acres. He also has plans for a private airport. management from Boston University and is water ma nagement a nd is also developing a r.,.0) of Adani \¥ilmer. the group's agri busi­ special economic zone near . ness. Son Karan is now looking arter ports To pull off his ambitious plans. Adani and another nephev., ,'viii join the business has realised the imperative of bu il ding a

"Tod ay, the Ad ani Group is fast moving from being largely family run to being more professionally driven." I

soon. "It helps to have family members as core team of professionals to assist the there is better communication and commit­ family. Today, the group is fast moving from ment is assured." says Adani. being largely fam ily run to being more pro­ I-lis vision is to have an integrated opera­ feSS ionally driven. 1\ 11 his businesses from tion for his group - from coal mining to power, port and o il and gas exploralion to power generation. The group today mines agriculture are manned by profeSSionals. the coal. transports it by rail or water using Adani scouts for professionals who are adept its own tracks. jetty and vessels, and unloads leaders even if they don't have domain it at its mvn port. "There is no other inte­ knowledge, Adani. for instance. hired grated power company in [ndia," says Ravi Sharma. a telccom professiona l, to head his Sharma, CEO of Adani Power. grou p's power initiatives. The first set of [n the oil and gas business, \vhere he has professionals who joined the group had a entered the exploration and distribution of motley background - from fi nance, com­ gas, Adani pl ans to scale up operations and modity trading to human resources. also establish forward linkages by setting up Adan i's message to his team today is an LNG terminal and a gas pipeline network. si mple: "We should be the best in whatever ;'We will look at operating the oil and gas we do." He plans to expand his core team business overseas. That ,·vill cut down sLx to to implement his vision 2020 - achieving seven years of gestation period." says Atul 200 million metric tonnes of cargo. 20.000 Sathe. CEO of Oil and Gas at . MW of pm'ver generation and 200 million In ports. too. the group has big plans. 111etri c tones of coa l mining. And given his Apart from the Mundra port. it is expanding track record, it is difficu lt not to take him its port presence in Goa, Hazira and Dahej. seriously. •

66 BUS INESSTODAY AI'ril17 2011