Jaipur, Nov 30: The time is ripe for us to leverage India's geographic location and help make our nation become the centre of the logistics world, Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, said on Saturday.

Addressing the 51st India Gem and Jewellery Awards here, Gautam Adani said that in the case of logistics, what started as a port jetty, to import coal in 1998, has gone on to become the country’s largest port business.

"This business today spans a network of 15 national and 5 international ports and, thereby, allows us to expand into building a network of integrated logistic nodes," he told the gathering.

These nodes now are made up of ports, rail, highways, warehouses, inland container depots, fulfilment centres, and trucking in a way no other company has ever achieved in the world.

"This journey has taken us deep into the Middle East — all the way into the Mediterranean through Israel — and into the heart of Africa. For me, it is no more just about ports. It is now about leveraging India's geographic location and doing our part to help make our nation become the centre of the logistics world," the Adani Group Chairman noted.

Likewise, what started as a single power plant in 2007, has now become not just India’s largest private thermal power generation company but has also allowed the Adani Group to expand into adjacencies.

"This expansion has seen us become India’s largest private transmission company, largest private power distribution company, largest mine developer and operator, as well as the only company that successfully took up the challenge of cross-border supply of power to help a neighbouring nation," Gautam Adani told the gathering.

Furthermore, it has allowed the company to move into the area of renewable energy.

"Today, we are India's largest solar panel manufacturing company as well as the world’s largest single-site renewable energy facility, well on our way to generating 30 GW of power, spread over a massive single span of land of more than 500 square kilometres," the Adani Group Chairman emphasised.

"Yet another example of challenging the status quo is our move into the airport business. In less than three years, we became the largest airport operator in the country. We then built our adjacencies that made us the largest airport logistics player with almost 40 per cent of India’s air cargo and have now undertaken the world’s largest slum redevelopment initiative, the Dharavi project," he stressed.

Gautam Adani further stated that for him, Dharavi is not just about slum redevelopment. "It is about restoring dignity, creating a sustainable ecosystem, and changing the status quo for over one million residents."

--IANS

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