Highlights
- Anil Agarwal says his mining group’s safety record has improved “tremendously”.
- The billionaire recalls the joy of watching 70,000 people at a Pitbull concert in Hyde Park.
- He hopes his family will eventually place his business interests in a trust for society.
ANIL AGARWAL wants his business to last for 500 years, with his family acting as custodians of the empire rather than its owners and its wealth eventually being used to give back to society.
The 72-year-old billionaire behind metals and mining group Vedanta said that his ambition is no longer simply about building a business, but about creating something that can continue beyond his lifetime.
“Our equity should go into a trust, and the trust should give back to society,” Agarwal told the Sunday Times. “I want my business to last for 500 years.”
His comments come as he reflects on his life, career and the death of his 49-year-old son in a skiing accident in the US in January.
Agarwal's daughter, Priya Agarwal Hebbar, who was educated at Warwick University and sits on Vedanta's board, is becoming increasingly involved in the group.
The Indian tycoon said he wants her and other members of the family to be custodians of the business. The approach marks a different focus for a businessman whose global empire now generates about $20 billion in revenue and employs around 100,000 people across Asia, Africa and Australia.
London has a special place
Agarwal remains based in London, where he has lived for more than a decade. He noted the city has held a special place in his imagination since childhood.
“We Indians, we have London in our mind,” he said, recalling images of Piccadilly, the Queen and the Palace.
He is also considering bringing Vedanta Resources, the London-based holding company that owns about 56 per cent of the Indian business, back to the London Stock Exchange.
Agarwal took the company private eight years ago and said London, New York and Toronto are now being considered for a possible relisting.
For someone who now presides over a vast business empire, Agarwal remembers a childhood of considerably less wealth. “I never wore shoes until the age of 14,” he revealed.
He left school at 15 and joined his father's small aluminium-conductor business in Bihar. At 19, he moved to Mumbai and began dealing in scrap metal. After several successful trades, he borrowed money to buy an enamelled copper manufacturer and gradually expanded into mining and metals.
“I don’t think I am that intelligent,” he told the newspaper. “But [I am] a risk taker, [I have] determination, and in rough weather, I can stand out.”
Many controversies
His career has also been marked by controversy. Vedanta has faced criticism over its environmental and human rights record, while 13 people died when police opened fire on protesters outside a company-owned copper smelter in southern India in 2018.
Agarwal calls it “a very sad incident”. “Everybody is regretting it,” he added.
He also acknowledged the fatalities that have occurred at Vedanta-owned mines, saying the accident and death rate has “come down tremendously because safety is a big focus in the mind”.
“Fatalities are ‘very unfortunate’,” he said, pointing to the inherent risks of mining. “There can be a flood, there can be an earthquake, there can be anything.”
Yet amid the scale and difficulties of his business career, Agarwal spoke with particular warmth about a recent experience that brought him happiness.
He bought a £123 ticket to see American rapper Pitbull perform in Hyde Park, despite previously knowing little about him.
“That was a great experience,” he said, smiling. “Everybody looks so beautiful — 70,000 people; [it was] like God descended. So young, so nice, and everybody has love and affection.”
After the loss of his son, Agarwal revealed he is still coming to terms with what happened. But his reflections on life appear to have strengthened his desire to make his wealth serve a purpose beyond himself.
