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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Indian billionaire Karan Adani announced plans to challenge Chinese dominance in global seaports.</li><li>Adani Ports has received "in-principle" approval for a $2 billion project in Da Nang, Vietnam.</li></ul>Karan Adani, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gautam-adani-succession-planning-sons-nephews-take-over-retirement-handover-2024-8">son of one of Asia's richest men</a>, wants to loosen China's grip on seaports and transform India into a major trading hub."We are working on making India the center point of the overall supply chain from east to west," said Karan in an interview with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-05/adani-ports-aims-to-grow-india-into-global-trading-hub-in-challenge-to-china">Bloomberg</a> for their "Inside Adani" series.Karan, who is the CEO of Adani Ports, said that the company had received an "in-principle" from the Vietnamese government for a potential $2 billion greenfield project in Da Nang.This would be the latest addition to the Adani Ports' portfolio. In 2022, it <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/with-haifa-port-acquisition-adani-sets-its-eyes-on-opportunities-in-europe/article65643118.ece">won a joint bid</a> on the Israel government's tender to buy the Haifa Port for $1.2 billion.It also owns port assets in Colombo in Sri Lanka and the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.<h2 id="b168f51e-af17-4dfd-93ff-9422bbccd00f">Loosening China's grip</h2>India has long feared that China is surrounding its country with ports. The trade infrastructure in the Indian Ocean is often referred to as China's "string of pearls".China's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-spends-twice-us-but-belt-road-initiative-losing-steam-2021-9">Belt and Road initiative</a> (also referred to as the New Silk Road) involves buying up multiple ports across the world to build a sea route running from the coast of China through the major transit route of the Indian Ocean and the busiest maritime points of the Middle East, and ending in Europe.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/china-ports-trade-military-navy/">According to the Washington Post</a>, the majority of investments in Chinese-owned ports have been made by companies owned by the Chinese government, which would make the Chinese Communist Party the biggest operator of the ports that fuel global supply chains.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cfr.org/tracker/china-overseas-ports">Council on Foreign Relations states</a> that China operates or has ownership stakes in at least one port in every continent except Antarctica. 92 out of the 101 ports were active as of 2023.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/a7c2b2f6-e106-436d-a599-cfcc69d18b05">Financial Times</a> cited a report by the Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute stating that China invested at least $40bn in coastal port infrastructure between 2016 and 2021.It also showed that China has 76 port terminals able to support large ships carrying more than 14,000 20ft containers, while south and south-east Asian countries have just 31 between them.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise/adani-kerala-to-fast-track-vizhinjam-port-completion-with-rs-20000-crore-investment/117536">Fortune India reported</a> that so far, 75% of India's transshipped cargo is handled by ports outside the country.The Adani Group wants to change that.<h2 id="f5591fc4-d44e-43a5-90bb-81fe08ef0678">Making India the world's factory</h2>The company has openly aligned its business interests with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda of making India the world's factory.Earlier this month, it welcomed the first mother ship in the first phase of its port in Vizhinjam harbor, a project undertaken with the state government of Kerala in India.Expected to reach completion in 2028, the seaport aims to handle up to half of India's container transshipment needs.According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani Enterprises, the group's main company, reported revenue of $11.6 billion in 2024, and Karan Adani's father, Gautam Adani, owns a 75% stake.The 62-year-old is worth over $80 billion and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gautam-adani-succession-planning-sons-nephews-take-over-retirement-handover-2024-8">announced his succession plan</a> on Monday — naming his sons Karan and Jeet and nephews Pranav and Sagar as heirs to the Adani Group.The Adani family have previously faced scrutiny for their close ties to Modi, and allegations of preferential treatment from the Modi government.The Adanis frame the association as a desire to improve the country, with the Chairman's Message on the Adani Group website promising to "foray into sectors where the country needs to establish a foothold," and affirming that they will "look at these opportunities as part of our national duty."

An Indian billionaire has an audacious plan to take down part of China's economic masterplan

Inside the island fortress of America's mega-billionaires

The <keyword id="19895371" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Congress" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Congress">Congress</keyword> on Thursday latched on to a new rich list to attack the Centre, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "<keyword id="21027901" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="billionaire-raj" source="keywords">billionaire raj</keyword>" is more unequal than even the <keyword id="20034027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="British-Raj" source="keywords">British Raj</keyword> and it is also the cornerstone of the government's <keyword id="22965777" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-policy-making" source="keywords">economic policy-making</keyword>. Congress general secretary in-charge communications <keyword id="20035989" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jairam-Ramesh" source="keywords">Jairam Ramesh</keyword> shared on X a media report which cited the <keyword id="21075617" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hurun-India-Rich-List" source="keywords">Hurun India Rich List</keyword> to state that India created a new billionaire every five days throughout 2023. "India has had one billionaire for every five days in 2023, and the non-biological Prime Minister's closest friend is the foremost among them all," Ramesh said on X. "Modi's Billionaire Raj is more unequal than even the British Raj. But it is also the cornerstone of the government's economic policy-making," he alleged. This is why, at a time when countries across the world are coalescing around the idea of a global billionaire tax, the Indian government has been conspicuously silent and continues to remain blind to rapidly increasing economic inequalities, Ramesh said. Recouping the dent caused by the <keyword id="20016892" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hindenburg-Research" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Hindenburg Research" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Hindenburg Research">Hindenburg Research</keyword> report, <keyword id="19929098" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gautam-Adani" source="keywords">Gautam Adani</keyword>'s networth shot up 95 per cent to Rs 11.6 lakh crore last year, which helped him replace <keyword id="19916798" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani" source="keywords">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> to become the richest Indian, according to the 2024 Hurun India Rich List. Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Ambani's overall networth increased by 25 per cent to Rs 10.14 lakh crore, as per the Hurun list. In 2023's report, Adani's wealth declined by 57 per cent to Rs 4.74 lakh crore, and Ambani was way ahead with a fortune of Rs 8.08 lakh crore. It can be noted that Adani's networth declined sharply following various allegations levelled by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research. The conglomerate has denied all the allegations. In the 2014 edition, Hurun had pegged Adani's fortunes at Rs 44,000 crore, which made him the tenth richest Indian then.

PM Modi's 'Billionaire Raj' more unequal than even British Raj: Congress

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani are slated to get married on Friday in Mumbai.</li><li>Four Indian event planners shared what it's like to plan a big celebrity wedding.</li></ul>The wedding of the year is upon us.After rounds of opulent pre-wedding festivities, <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/anant-ambani-and-radhika-merchant-to-wed-at-the-jio-world-convention-centre-in-mumbai-on-july-12/articleshow/110562426.cms">Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani</a>, the youngest son of <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/indian-billionaire-ambani-targets-african-telecom-market-with-new-venture/vwmsmgn">Asia's richest man</a>, are slated to get married on Friday in Mumbai.Their guests, who have so far included <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ambani-pre-wedding-celebration-with-justin-bieber-performance-2024-7">Bollywood actors, Indian cricketers,</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-mark-zuckerberg-among-expected-attendees-at-indian-wedding-2024-2">international business leaders</a>, will also attend events on Saturday and a reception on Sunday.During a pre-wedding event in March, Ambani said his mom worked 18 hours a day for the four months leading up to the parties."All this is created by my mother and no one else, and my mother has gone all out for the last four months," Ambani said, per a <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmMh8KtrGaY&amp;ab_channel=BusinessToday">video</a> of the speech uploaded in March.Planning such an event takes a village, according to four wedding planners who spoke to Business Insider about what goes into organizing a multi-day Indian celebrity wedding.<h2 id="d3a9cac7-58b4-42c9-888b-817200ed450e">The biggest cost is the venue</h2>The planners BI spoke to said a typical multi-day wedding that they plan costs between five to 10 crore Indian Rupees, or about $1.2 million.Crore is an Indian term for 10 million; 1 crore rupees is around $120,000.Whether it's a big-ticket <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ambani-richest-family-in-asia-india-lifestyle-home-wedding-photos-2018-12">wedding like the Ambani's</a> or the wedding of an upper-middle-class family, the breakdown of major costs in an Indian wedding look about the same, one event planner told BI.About 40% to 50% of the budget goes to the venue, which includes catering and rooms for the guests, said Nishita Aggarwal, the founder of The Event Designer, a Delhi-based wedding planning company.Next, 25% to 30% of costs go toward decorations, which include elaborate backdrops, tents, and floor-to-ceiling floral arrangements.<div type="image" title="pink backdrop at Indian wedding" height="3508" width="5262" msid="111674066" hostid="261"></div>About 10% is spent on entertainment. The Ambanis have hired Rihanna, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ambani-pre-wedding-celebration-with-justin-bieber-performance-2024-7">Justin Bieber, </a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anant-ambani-katy-perry-backstreet-boys-pre-wedding-party-2024-6">Katy Perry, The Backstreet Boys</a>, and Pitbull for pre-wedding functions in recent months.Other families spend a lot on artists including singers and celebrity DJs, said Purvi Modgil, a destination wedding planner based in Mumbai."If you plan to call three or four of them in different core functions, that can also add up to a good cost," she said.The remaining 10% usually goes into wedding gifts and logistics for the family and guests."Now, when it comes to a high-net-worth wedding or a celebrity wedding, everything becomes 10 times or hundred times" of that cost, Aggarwal said. "There is no bar on the budget."Planners' cost estimates of the Ambani wedding varied widely, from tens of millions of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars.Anant's older sister <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ambani-richest-family-in-asia-india-lifestyle-home-wedding-photos-2018-12">Isha Ambani</a> got married in 2018 in a similarly lavish wedding, including a Beyoncé performance. While media outlets speculated about a $100 million price tag, a spokesperson for the Ambani-owned company, Reliance, said that it cost less than $15 million, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2018/12/11/the-big-fat-ambani-wedding-celebrates-a-match-among-indias-billionaire-elite/#7cb474465992">per a Forbes article</a> at the time.A spokesperson for the family did not respond to a request for comment about the costs for Anant Ambani's wedding.The pre-wedding events have grabbed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ambanis-throwing-another-pre-wedding-party-cruise-ship-2024-5">headlines</a> for months. With so many celebrities and business leaders angling for an invitation, the nuptials are also a business networking event, Aggarwal said.<h2 id="7190f45a-3ee9-4e5a-bf2a-0fef8f5de89f">Each main family member is assigned a 'shadow'</h2>Many couples don't want to host their weddings at venues where other high-profile families have already held nuptials, Aggarwal said."They want everything to be exclusive," she said. "The decor has to be something else that no one else has ever thought of. It is almost like a big movie set."For a big celebrity wedding, planners divide their staff into teams and hire hundreds of additional people leading up to and on the day of the ceremony.With chefs, waiters, light and audio teams, and decorators, about 500 people often work the event, Modgil said.The planners also assign butlers to each main family member. These staffers, called "shadows," hold their phones and gifts and ensure they stay hydrated and have everything they need."There are over 70 suppliers and vendors who we work with for each wedding," said Darshan Shroff, a Mumbai-based wedding planner. "I like to describe wedding planners in India as circus masters."<h2 id="07e84198-c3b3-4ae5-b860-565eaa82e3bd">Privacy and security are top concerns</h2>Many celebrity or influencer couples are particular about how their wedding is portrayed on the news and on social media.Planners have strict instructions that restrict posts from vendors about outfits, decor, or flowers before a set date. Most big weddings also collect the phones of their guests for privacy, and couples have teams that work with the media."You can't have too many people hanging out taking their pictures. It makes them very uncomfortable," Modgil said about celebrity guests and couples.Top security firms and even local authorities may sketch out safety plans."The minute there are some kind of celebrities, whether it's politicians or Bollywood, security becomes very important," Modgil said. "We've had separate people escorting them and even taking them back because sometimes they even get mobbed."The families and their guests are not always easy to please.Aggarwal said she has planned weddings where celebrity attendees call to confirm what type of hotel suite they will be staying in and what kind of car is coming to pick them up. Everything must match their lifestyle standard.<h2 id="f2b6f12d-16c9-4226-9b64-e59a5aa60374">Setting a blueprint for other weddings</h2>The Ambani wedding is already influencing how other Indians are envisioning and planning their own nuptials.The planners told BI that brides are asking them for the same designers that Radhika Merchant wore in her pre-wedding events, like the custom lehengas designed by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla and Tarun Tahiliani.<div type="image" title="Radhika Merchant wore a Swarovski crystal lehenga designed by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla" height="691" width="1024" msid="111674067" hostid="261"></div>Planners expect the main wedding to leave an even bigger mark."Given the immense influence celebrities have, their weddings often become blueprints for future celebrations worldwide," said Bharat Jagasia, a Delhi-based wedding planner."For the Ambani wedding, I am particularly excited to see how they differentiate the main event from their pre-wedding functions," he said.The festivities are slated to kick off Friday at the Jio World Convention Centre, which is owned by the Ambani family. It can accommodate over 16,000 guests.July 12, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Nishita Aggarwal's location. She is based in Delhi, not in Mumbai.

Behind the scenes of billionaire Indian weddings: Hired 'shadows,' phone bans, and a circus master to lead the chaos

<ul><li><keyword id="20674001" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Savitri-Jindal" source="keywords">Savitri Jindal</keyword>, the matriarch of the <keyword id="21185539" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jindal-Group" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Jindal Group" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Jindal Group">Jindal Group</keyword>, is India's richest woman with a net worth of $36 billion. </li><li>Following her husband Om Prakash Jindal's sudden death in 2005, she took over the <keyword id="34570" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="steel" source="Orion">steel</keyword> and <keyword id="44011" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="power" source="Orion">power</keyword> conglomerate. </li><li>She is the only Indian woman in the top 10 of <keyword id="20017067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Forbes" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Forbes" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Forbes">Forbes</keyword>’ list of the richest women in the world in 2024. </li></ul>In the vast and dynamic landscape of Indian business, one name stands out as a symbol of resilience, leadership, and unparalleled success: Savitri Jindal. With an astonishing net worth of $36 billion, she is India's richest woman. According to the <keyword id="962341" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bloomberg-billionaires-index" source="Orion">Bloomberg Billionaires Index</keyword>, her net worth zoomed at $9.5 billion in 2024, making her the only Indian woman in the top 10 of Forbes’ list of the richest women in the world that year. <h2> A Legacy of Leadership</h2>Savitri Jindal's journey began in 2005, following the unexpected death of her husband, Om Prakash Jindal, the visionary founder of the Jindal Group. Thrust into the helm of a vast conglomerate with interests in steel, power, <keyword id="6378916" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cement" source="Orion">cement</keyword>, and infrastructure, she faced immense challenges. Yet, her determination and astute leadership transformed these challenges into opportunities, propelling the Jindal Group to unprecedented heights. Under Savitri Jindal's guidance, the Jindal Group flourished, becoming a cornerstone of India's industrial sector. Some of the flagship companies of the Jindal group are Jindal Saw Limited, JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless Steel Limited and Jindal Steel and Power Limited. She’s currently the chairperson emerita of the O.P. Jindal Group, and also the president of Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha. <h2>Beyond the Boardroom</h2>Savitri Jindal's influence extends beyond the boardroom. She has made significant contributions to public service and philanthropy. In 2005, Jindal was elected to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha from Haryana’s Hisar constituency, which was earlier represented by her late husband Om Prakash Jindal for a long time. In 2009, she was re-elected to the constituency and was appointed the cabinet minister in the Haryana Government on 29 October 2013. She transitioned to the Bharatiya Janata Party in March this year. <h2>A Broader Trend of Empowerment</h2>Savitri Jindal's rise to prominence is not just a personal triumph but a reflection of a broader trend in India. Women are breaking barriers and redefining success in the business world. Influential figures like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Falguni Nayar are reshaping the narrative of corporate leadership and success, proving that the boardroom is no longer an exclusively male domain. Savitri Jindal's story is one of perseverance, strategic vision, and an unyielding commitment to excellence. Her leadership has not only fortified the Jindal Group's position as an industrial powerhouse but has also inspired a new generation of women leaders in India.

Meet Savitri Jindal: The richest woman in India, with a net worth of $36 billion!

Top 10 richest women in the world in 2024

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy said young Indians should work 70 hours a week.</li><li>He said they need to become "highly determined, extremely disciplined, and extremely hardworking."</li></ul>One of India's top business leaders said that young Indians need to grind out 70-hour workweeks if they want to see their country realize its economic potential. "My request is that our youngsters must say: 'This is my country. I want to work 70 hours a week," N.R. Narayana Murthy, the 77-year-old founder of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/unlike-tcs-infosys-wants-to-remain-flexible-on-wfh/articleshow/104375828.cms">information technology giant Infosys</a>, said in a recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES8ZNSTswrs">interview</a> with former Infosys CFO T.V. Mohandas Pai.Murthy, who cofounded Infosys in 1981 and has a net worth of around $4.3 billion, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/nr-narayana-murthy/?sh=4033d4823e05">according</a> to Forbes, said that India has one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wfh-work-from-home-decreases-productivity-18-percent-study-rto-2023-8">lowest productivity levels</a> in the world and that it was the responsibility of the country's youth to drive changes in its work culture.Around 66% per cent of India's population is under the age of 35, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ilo.org/newdelhi/info/WCMS_175936/lang--en/index.htm">according</a> to figures from the International Labour Organization (ILO). "Our culture has to change to that of highly determined, extremely disciplined, and extremely hardworking people," Murthy told Pai.He added that it was an opportune time to "consolidate and accelerate" the country's economic progress because India was beginning to receive global recognition for its fast-growing economy, which is on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-us-economy-biggest-in-world-china-imports-2023-7#:~:text=India%20is%20on%20pace%20to,chance%20it%20squanders%20this%20promise&amp;text=India%20is%20expected%20to%20be,tariffs%2C%20and%20discouraging%20foreign%20investment.">pace to become the world's second-largest economy by 2075</a>. But Indians already work some of the longest hours of any nationality, averaging around 47.7 hours per week per employed person, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/working-time/#">ILO</a>. That puts India seventh in the global ranking, with only Qatar, Congo, Lesotho, Bhutan, Gambia, and the United Arab Emirates averaging more, per the ILO.Murthy's comments have thus stirred a debate on social media, with some saying that taking his advice <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-life-balance-job-satisfaction-burnout-great-resignation-office-return-2023-4">might backfire and lead to burnout</a>.In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, tech entrepreneur Vishal Gondal wrote: "Respectfully, Narayana Murthy ji, while hard work is crucial, a 70-hr work week may risk burnout and stifle creativity.""Empowering minds, not exhausting them, fuels the innovation that places nations at the pinnacle of global advancement," he added. A 70-hour workweek could also pose <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-from-home-women-careers-jobs-pandemic-flexibility-gender-equality-2023-7">difficulties for working women</a>, many of whom also take on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-time-men-women-spend-on-housework-caregiving-pew-2023-4#:~:text=Even%20when%20women%20earn%20the,their%20husbands%20are%2C%20on%20average.">bulk of household duties</a>.A time-use <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1660028">survey</a> taken in 2019 found that Indian women spent around 299 minutes a day on housework and 134 minutes on caregiving duties, while men spent just 97 minutes carrying out household tasks and 76 minutes on caregiving."With this statement, Mr. Murthy is essentially pushing women out of the workplace," one woman said in an X <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/nuts2406/status/1717574024589705503">post</a>, adding that, "men are never going to share the load of housekeeping, caregiving and childrearing."

Billionaire businessman says young Indians should work 70 hours a week

<ul><li>92-year-old <keyword id="1860467" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lachman-Das-Mittal" source="Orion">Lachman Das Mittal</keyword> is <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="Orion">India</keyword>’s oldest billionaire with a net worth of $2.5 billion as per Forbes. </li><li>Mittal is the founder and chairman of <keyword id="813" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sonalika" source="Orion">Sonalika</keyword> Group, India's third-largest tractor maker by market share and India’s largest tractor export brand. </li><li>The billionaire is a former LIC employee who holds a master’s degree in arts in English and Urdu languages.</li></ul>The founder of Sonalika Group, 92-year-old Lachman Das Mittal is now India’s oldest billionaire. As per the Forbes 2023 list, 99-year-old <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/the-life-and-times-of-keshub-mahindra-indias-oldest-billionaire/slidelist/99428483.cms">Keshub</a> Mahindra, the former chairman of Mahindra &amp; Mahindra group was the oldest billionaire. Unfortunately, Mahindra passed away on April 12. India now has four nonagenarians among the country’s 169 billionaires, as per the list. Mittal is the founder chairman of Sonalika Group, India's third-largest tractor maker by market share. As per <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/lachhman-das-mittal/?list=billionaires&amp;sh=3708547e32d5">Forbes</a>, he has a net worth of $2.5 billion. He first entered the Forbes Billionaire list in 2013. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="After his retirement…" comment="subhead2" text="After his retirement…">After his retirement…</cmsannotation> The 92-year-old started his business a little over three decades ago at the age of 60, after retiring from the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as a deputy zonal manager. The billionaire shows up to the office every day, even after his sons and grandsons look over the company’s operations. “We are not just sitting in some air-conditioned room and running the business…I and my boys know every inch of a tractor,” <a href="https://www.forbesindia.com/article/india-rich-list-2015/lachhman-das-mittal-tractor-master/41355/1">shared </a>the patriarch with Forbes. Born in August 1931 in Hoshiarpur, Mittal’s professional journey started as a LIC agent. After obtaining a Master’s in Arts degree in English and Urdu language from Punjab University, Mittal started working with LIC in 1955. Mittal, who obtained a gold medal during his post-graduation, was diligent at work, gaining knowledge about the different types of investments. Gradually, he started saving to pay off past debts and for securing his future. Though he wasn’t born with money, he managed to save enough to start a side venture in 1969 — building farm machinery under the name Sonalika. Unfortunately, the venture left him bankrupt. In an attempt to offset his losses, he tried to obtain a Maruti dealership but was rejected. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Poetry on wheels" comment="subhead2" text="Poetry on wheels">Poetry on wheels</cmsannotation> Undeterred, he forged on. Inspired by Japanese machines that separated hay and wheat, he built threshers, gaining <a href="https://www.news18.com/business/meet-lachhman-das-mittal-who-launched-sonalika-group-at-the-age-of-60-7510003.html">nationwide acclaim </a>for his product in just eight years. After <a href="https://www.forbesindia.com/article/india-rich-list-2015/lachhman-das-mittal-tractor-master/41355/1">retiring from his job in 1990</a>, he spent years writing and reading poetry in classical Urdu and working on Sonalika to build a tractor. The idea to build tractors actually came to him through his customers, who were eager to see a tractor from Sonalika. To carry out the requisite research and study to launch tractors, Mittal needed financing. Consequently, he secured a loan of ₹22 crore from his trusted dealers. Six years after he retired, in 1996, Sonalika Tractors was incorporated. Today, it’s the country’s largest exporter of tractors, associated with more than 14 lakh customers across 140 countries around the world. Mittal, who’s a fan of Bollywood movies and a coin collector, said while recounting his journey with Business Standard, "Once I applied for a dealership of Maruti Udyog but was rejected. Today, I give out dealerships." <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Building his pot of gold" comment="subhead2" text="Building his pot of gold">Building his pot of gold</cmsannotation> Sonalika, which means ‘lines of gold’ in Hindi, is named after a popular line of wheat seeds that fuelled the Green Revolution in India, leading to greater production. The Sonalika Tractors were definitely Mittal’s pot of gold. Japanese firm Yanmar has a 30% stake in Sonalika Tractors. Today, the brand has an employee strength of over 10,000 and was <a href="https://www.sonalika.com/about-us.html">chosen </a>by the Indian government to contribute towards the Niti-Aayog project to double the farmer’s income in the country. Sonalika has been clocking over 1 lakh tractor sales consistently for six years (FY18 – FY23). It also recorded the highest annual growth of 41.6% in the domestic market during the pandemic (FY21) — significantly higher than the overall industry growth of 26.7%. The company has five manufacturing facilities across the globe, including the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX-tPTIwVok&amp;ab_channel=ETAuto">world’s largest tractor-manufacturing facility </a>at Hoshiarpur in Punjab. Mittal’s elder son Amrit Sagar is the company’s vice-chairman, while his third son, Deepak is the managing director. Mittal’s second son is a doctor in New York. Interestingly, his daughter, Usha Sangawan, is LIC’s first female managing director. SEE ALSO:

India’s oldest billionaire started his business after retiring from LIC

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will no longer fly to the moon aboard SpaceX's rocket, Starship.</li><li>A statement said the voyage was scheduled for 2023, but delays made the timeline "unfeasible."</li></ul>Japanese billionaire <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-billionaire-yusaku-maezawa-gives-away-money-on-space-flight-2021-12">Yusaku Maezawa</a> has canceled his star-studded trip to the moon aboard a rocket designed by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk's</a> company, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a>.The project's official website, dearMoon, <a target="_blank" href="https://dearmoon.earth/pdf/dearMoon_EN_240601.pdf?0531">published a statement</a> on Saturday. Maezawa, the founder of online retailer Zozotown, first announced the project in 2018 and described it as "the world's first civilian circumlunar voyage aboard SpaceX's space vehicle, Starship."SpaceX and dearMoon made plans to take flight by the end of 2023."Unfortunately, however, launch within 2023 became unfeasible, and without clear schedule certainty in the near-term, it is with a heavy heart that Maezawa made the unavoidable decision to cancel the project," the statement read.<div type="image" title="Yusaku Maezawa in January 2022." height="2722" width="4000" msid="110627672" hostid="261" sizebytes="321828"></div>Maezawa echoed the statement with an X post, writing, "I can't plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time.""I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen," he added.A dearMoon representative confirmed the cancellation in a statement to Business Insider. Representatives for SpaceX did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.Maezawa announced the eight people who would fly aboard the space vehicle in a YouTube video in December 2022. The guest list included American DJ Steve Aoki, K-Pop star T.O.P., and Indian actor Dev Joshi.The billionaire previously traveled to space in December 2021 during a 12-day trip to the <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-80m-iss-trip-leaders-space-yusaku-maezawa-spacex-2021-12">International Space Station</a>. He spent an estimated $80 million to ride aboard a <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-yusaku-maezawa-blast-into-space-shares-training-footage-2021-12">Russian Soyuz rocket</a>.<a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ai-use-spacex-starlink-milkin-institute-2024-5">Musk founded SpaceX</a> in 2022 and recently answered questions about the company during the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in May.When asked if artificial intelligence could speed up his space exploration efforts, Musk said that "almost no AI is used" in that field.He added that he's not against integrating AI, but "we haven't seen a use for it."

A Japanese billionaire canceled his trip to the moon on a SpaceX rocket after too many delays

New Delhi, India's top billionaires, including Gautam Adani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, mega stars from film industry such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan and cricketing icons from Sachin Tendulkar to M S Dhoni are among those invited for pre-wedding celebrations of Mukesh Ambani's youngest son, Anant early next month. Ahead of the wedding ceremony in July, guests from around the world have been invited to three-day pre-wedding festivities beginning March 1, at Gujarat's Jamnagar, which houses Ambani's mega oil refineries. Anant Ambani, the youngest of the three children Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani have, is set to marry Radhika Merchant - the younger daughter of <keyword id="20720133" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viren-merchant" source="keywords">Viren Merchant</keyword>, CEO of Encore Healthcare, and entrepreneur Shaila Merchant. With Jamnagar not having five-star hotels, ultra-luxury tents housing best of facilities, including tiled bathrooms are being erected for the guests. The guest list includes international business leaders like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Adnoc CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and EL Rothschild chair Lynn Forester de Rothschild, sources said. Indian business magnates invited include Gautam Adani and family, Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran , Aditya Birla Group Chairperson Kumar Mangalam Birla, and his family, Godrej family, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani, RPSG Group head Sanjiv Goenka, Wipro's Rishad Premji, banker <keyword id="19998917" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uday-kotak" source="keywords">Uday Kotak</keyword>, vaccine maker Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal, Hero's Pawan Munjal, Roshni Nadar of HCL, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala and Sun Pharma's Dilip Sanghi. Top cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and family, MS Dhoni and family, Rohit Sharma, K L Rahul, Hardik and Krunal Pandya and Ishan Kishan too are on the invitee list. <keyword id="19897820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="keywords">Bollywood</keyword> will be represented by mega stars Amitabh Bachchan and family, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and family, Amir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna, Ajay Devgn and Kajol, Saif Ali Khan and family, Chunky Pandey, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt and <keyword id="19895145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vicky-kaushal" source="keywords">Vicky Kaushal</keyword> and Katrina Kaif. Madhuri Dikshit and Sriram Nene, Aditya and Rani Chopra, Karan Johar, Boney Kapoor and family, Anil Kapoor and family, <keyword id="19946417" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="varun-dhawan" source="keywords">Varun Dhawan</keyword>, Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor, Rajnikanth and family are are on the invitee list. The three-day-long event will be themed, according to 'Event Guide' sent to the invitees. Chartered flights have been arranged to ferry guests from Delhi and Mumbai to Jamnagar and back. Guests are expected to arrive by mid-day on March 1. Hollywood pop-icon Rihanna, along with Diljit Dosanjh and others, will enthrall the guests with their performances. Day 1 celebrations are called 'An Evening in Everland' where guests are expected to wear elegant cocktail attire. Day 2 will host 'A Walk on the Wildside' with 'jungle fever' being the suggested dress code. It is set to be held outdoors in the Ambanis' animal rescue centre in Jamnagar. The guests will then proceed to 'Mela Rouge' which will be a potpourri of desi activities and the guests will wear their favourite south Asian attires. For Day 3, two events - 'Tusker Trails' and 'Hashtakshar' are planned. The first event will be an outdoor affair where the guests will enjoy the natural beauty of Jamnagar and for the last and final event, they'll be dressed in 'heritage Indian Wear'. All the guests will be provided with personal laundry services, saree drapers and other custom assistance, the nine-page event guide said.

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