Gautam Adani is thankful to Rajiv Gandhi's Exim policy which helped him start his export house

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani told India Today that if not for Rajiv Gandhi his entrepreneurial journey wouldn't have ever taken off and he broke it down into four broad phases.

Also read: How Gautam Adani feels about being the world's 3rd richest man

"When I look back at my entrepreneurial journey, I can divide it into four phases. Many will be surprised to know that it all began during the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister when he first liberalised the Exim [export-import] policy and, for the first time, several items were brought in the OGL [Open Group Licence] list. That is what helped me to start my export house. But for Rajiv Gandhi, my journey as an entrepreneur would never have taken off," Adani told India Today in an exclusive interview.

Adani said he got his next big entrepreneurial push during the economic liberalisation reforms of 1991.

"The second big push I got was in 1991, when the duo of P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh initiated sweeping economic reforms. Just like many other entrepreneurs, I too was a beneficiary of those reforms. There is no point in further elaborating on it because so much has been said and written about it," Adani told India Today Group's Managing Editor Raj Chengappa.

Asia's richest man, who is India Today’s ‘Newsmaker of the Year' for 2022, explained how Keshubhai Patel's tenure as Gujarat CM was also a game changer for him as it took him to Mundra to build the conglomerate's first port.

"The third turning point for me came in 1995 when Keshubhai Patel was sworn in as Gujarat Chief Minister. Until then, all development in Gujarat was only around NH 8 from Mumbai to Delhi via cities like Vapi, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Silvassa, Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad. He was a visionary and focused on coastal development – and it was that policy change that took me to Mundra and prompted me to build our first port. The rest, as they say, is history," he underscored.

Adani further said as Gujarat CM, Narendra Modi changed both the economic and social landscape of the state, which helped Adani Group and many other industries.

"The fourth turning point was in 2001, when Gujarat witnessed a massive focus on development under Chief Minister Narendra Modi. His policies and their implementation went on to not only change the economic landscape of the state but it also brought social transformation and development of previously underdeveloped areas. It also allowed industries and employment to take off like never before. Today, under his able leadership, we are seeing a similar resurgence at the national and international levels, where a new India is now asserting itself," said the billionaire.

Adani brushed off criticism that his meteoric rise is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as being 'baseless'.

"It is unfortunate that such narratives are being pushed against me. As I explained, these allegations are baseless and suffer from recency bias seeing our Group’s success through a short-term lens. The fact of the matter is that my professional success is not because of any individual leader but because of the policy and institutional reforms initiated by several leaders and governments during a long period of over three decades," said Adani.

Also read: Gautam Adani says his professional success is not because of any individual leader

Also read: 'Lakshman rekha between management, editorial': How Gautam Adani promises to run NDTV