Meet Vedanta Resources' Founder and 'Metal King' Anil Agarwal. With a net worth of Rs. 16,700 crores, he is the richest Bihar-origin person in India. Here's everything you need to know about him.
Anil Agarwal is one of the richest people in India and is currently the wealthiest person in the country of Bihar-origin. He was born back on January 24, 1954, into a Marwadi family in Bihar's capital, Patna. He completed his schooling at Patna's Miller School but never got the opportunity to study in a college due to family struggles. Despite having no business-related degree, he built one of the biggest companies in India, Vedanta Limited. According to the company's official website, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta did a turnover of Rs. 1,31,192 crores in the financial year 2021-2022.
For the uninitiated, Anil Agarwal is the Founder and Chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited, a global mining company headquartered in London. It is also the largest non-ferrous metals and mining company in India. The billionaire businessman founded the company in 1976 as a scrap metal dealership.
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After more than ten years, he acquired the famous manufacturer of power and control cables, Shamsher Sterling Corporation and subsequently renamed it as Sterlite Industries. In 1993, Sterlite Industries became the first industry in India to establish a refinery and copper smelter. Another major milestone in Anil Agarwal's journey came when he decided to take his business to the next level and acquired a massive 51 percent stake in BALCO (Bharat Aluminium Company).
Not only this, the industrialist also purchased a 65 percent stake in HZL (Hindustan Zinc Limited). With these two major acquisitions and the growth of his existing businesses, it was in 2003 that Anil Agarwal established Vedanta Resources Limited in London with the vision to cater the global capital. After a dedicated work of more than 10 years, it is now one of the most prolific natural resources conglomerates. Vedanta Resources Limited has a workforce of more than 65,000 employees.
On August 22, 2023, Vedanta Resources Limited's Founder, Anil Agarwal took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle and posted a picture of himself where he could be seen sitting at an event.
However, it was his caption, along with the picture, that caught everyone's attention. The billionaire talked about his struggling days and shared how people were kind to him. From crediting a chaiwala to a bank's sewadaar, Anil Agarwal praised them for helping him out in his days of need. An excerpt from his long caption could be read as:
"When I first arrived in Mumbai, bahut mushkil waqt dekha.. I had very little but always knew I wanted to do something big. Uss waqt many people helped me, sometimes with their words, sometimes with their small actions - from local chai wale bhaiya jo udhaar pe chai pilaate the, to sewadaar at Syndicate bank who guided me when I needed a loan for my business. Ye chhoti chhoti cheezein gave me confidence that my dream of a business can come true."
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The billionaire industrialist, Anil Agarwal is happily married to Kiran Agarwal. The couple has two children, Agnivesh Agarwal and Priya Agarwal. While Agnivesh is the chairman of Hindustan Zinc, Priya is a PR professional. According to a report in Business Standard, Anil Agarwal had ruled out the possibility of someone from his family succeeding in his legacy.
Not only this, he has also revealed that despite being in his 70s, he is not going to retire anytime soon. Well, talking about his wife, Kiran, she is the chairperson of Hindustan Zinc. The doting husband never skips a chance to adore his wife publicly, as we have seen him share throwback pictures with Kiran along with romantic captions every now and then.
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According to a report in Aaj Tak, Anil Agarwal and Kiran Agarwal watched the iconic film, Raja Rani (1973) of the late legendary actor, Rajesh Khanna in a theatre. Although the couple was engaged by then but even then, it wasn't common to meet your fiancee before the wedding. However, Anil Agarwal couldn't resist meeting his fiancee, with whom he was madly-in-love with. He tried a lot of things, but it was around Janmashtami when he got the chance to watch the film, Raja Rani with Kiran in a theatre.
On the occasion of Janmashtami, Anil Agarwal's mother put Janmashtami's prasad in a box and told her another son, Navin Agarwal to deliver that box to Anil's in-laws. Before leaving for their house, Navin contacted his brother, Anil's in-laws and got to know that only Kiran and her brother were at home. As soon as Anil heard that Kiran's family was not at home, he decided to make a plan to meet her outside. However, it wasn't easy, as he had to convince his brother and Kiran's brother too.
To convince his brother, Navin Agarwal, he lured him by giving him some money for kites. Although at first, Navin resisted, but on his brother, Anil Agarwal's multiple requests, he agreed. Moving on to his second challenge, Anil told his friends to play cards with Kiran's brother so that he could take her out for a movie. The plan succeeded, and while Kiran's brother was busy playing cards with Anil's friends, the couple had one of the best moments of their lives.
According to a report in Forbes, Anil Agarwal's net worth is estimated to be around the massive sum of Rs. 16,723 crore. If the report is to be believed, the valuation of Vedanta Limited is around Rs. 1,03,919 crores.
At the age of 70, he is still making ground-breaking decisions that can lead his conglomerates to further heights. However, it's incredible the way Anil Agarwal had made his way to the top despite being failed at nine businesses. He is hands-down an inspiration for so many young entrepreneurs across the country.
What are your thoughts on Anil Agarwal's filmy love story? Let us know.
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