Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

As far as unexciting news goes, Gautam Adani announcing, or at least signalling, his entry into a new business is right up there. 

Just look at the range of sectors the world’s third-richest person has ventured into in 2021 and 2022: cement, petrochemicals, aluminium, copper, media. And I haven’t even listed everything. 

Well, last week, he added another to the list:

So Gautam Adani is adding retail to the dizzying array of businesses he wants to leave a mark in?  

Big deal. What’s one more venture, right? 

But no. 

This one may be a bit different. 

Let me explain.

Why Indian consumers won’t be able to avoid the Adani Group

Many of our lives are, at different points, probably already being touched by the Adani Group. We may power our homes with electricity generated and/or supplied by the conglomerate. And a lot more of us may have gadgets and furniture that passed through Adani-owned ports. 

But we don’t quite relate to Adani the same way we relate to, say, Hindustan Unilever or Titan. 

Sure, Adani Wilmar, which went public earlier this year, owns the popular edible oil brand Fortune. But even though the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company has products like rice, wheat flour, and soaps, it doesn’t have a very wide range of offerings. 

We don’t yet see Adani brands permeating our daily living spaces. 

But that’s been changing. And I’m not referring to the fact that the Adani Group is now India’s largest operator of airports, or is among the biggest suppliers of piped gas to our homes. 

A few months ago, it was big news when the conglomerate said it would acquire nearly 30% of news channel NDTV and launch an open offer to become its majority shareholder. Just a few months before that, an arm of group flagship Adani Enterprises bought 49% in the entity behind news website BQ Prime. 

Around the same time as the latter, another unit of Adani Enterprises heralded the entry of the group into healthcare.