The Talk of the Town - the marriage in Mumbai

A grand, ostentatious reception will take place at the wedding of Anant Ambani, (29) youngest son of Mukesh and Nita Ambani and his long-time girlfriend, Radhika, Merchant, (29) daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant in Mumbai, India, that will be attended by celebrities, politicians, past British Prime Ministers, US Senators, actors and sports personalities, ferried across the world by three Falcon 2000 jets, a cost estimated at £14.62 million. The happy couple kicked off celebrations two weeks ago with a four day cruise through Europe, with private performances from Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Backstreet Boys.

Ahead of the most expensive wedding ever we are told, they have thrown a dinner for more than 50,000 villagers outside Jamnagar, Gujarat, and a charitable act. This wedding promises to be the most extravagant of galas of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, with a fortune of £97 billion ($123 Billion), a long standing Gujarati associate of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has shared his wealth among his other two children, Akash, his eldest son and Isha, his daughter. But his galas have repaid him millions in business contracts in energy and petrochemicals.

This wedding ceremony has also highlighted two aspects of India’s growing stature on the global stage, the economic, political, intellectual and scientific advance over the years, as well as the abject poverty and health care of millions of India’s population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Shubh Aashirwad ceremony of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant on Saturday. For the unversed, the shubh aashirwad ceremony was held on the second day of the grand wedding ceremony, which included the newlyweds and their family members getting blessings from priests. Why then are India’s super rich buying a one way ticket out of India? With the arrival of the Labour Government in Britain and the “non-dom status,” the flight out of safe heavens by millionaires, is a new feature. But the super-rich are also on the move in other parts of the world. Like elsewhere, whether it be the richest families of old, the Rothschild’s, or Hugh Grosvenor, the 7th Duke of Westminster, who owns Mayfair and Park Lane, or the new rich Elon Musk ($249bn.) Jeff Bezos of Amazon ($210bn.) or even Bernard Arnault of LVMH ($200bn.; the new rich in India are the up and coming Ambani’s and the Adani’s. The Indian billionaires have grown rich mainly because of their connections, in India and abroad, because of marriage. Radhika Merchant, is not only a “pretty face,” she is a business woman, graduated with a BA in Political Science from New York University in 2017, a trained and talented Classical dancer. She comes from a very affluent background, the daughter of Viren Merchant, the founder of pharmaceutical business Encore Healthcare, doing good business in China. Anant Ambani heads Reliance Industries energy business with his family living at Antilla in Mumbai, considered to be a private residence after Buckingham Palace, reportedly costing $2 bn, with 27 floors serviced by 1000 staff. He too has a lot of political connections not only with BJP, but with other young leaders, personalities around the world. According to Henley Private Migration Report, there is a flight of millionaires not only in Britain, in China and India ranks third (3rd) with 4300 millionaires leaving, this year. We saw the Russian oligarchs leaving Britain after the sanctions imposed on Russian invasion of Ukraine. We now see a mass exodus from India and the welcoming nations are in the Arab world, particularly, Saudi Arabia. Will it frighten off the Adani or the Ambani, is your guess? Victor Cherubim