July 12, 2025:
In a powerful and wide-ranging address at the 5th Annual SMISS Asia Pacific Conference in Mumbai on 11 July, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, urged India’s leading spinal surgeons and medical innovators to reimagine the country’s healthcare infrastructure as the “spine” of the nation’s ascent on the global stage.
Speaking at The Taj Mahal Palace, Adani opened his speech by acknowledging the vital role of the medical community. “To the world, you may be known as spine doctors. But to your patients, you represent hope,” he said. Referencing the film Munnabhai MBBS as one of his favourites, he added, “Healing is hope. Healing is humanity. It goes far beyond surgery.”
Adani shared deeply personal reflections on his entrepreneurial beginnings — from leaving Ahmedabad at 16 on a second-class train to Mumbai, polishing diamonds, and closing his first deal worth ₹10,000, to managing a factory at just 19. “Entrepreneurship doesn’t begin with a grand vision. It begins with the courage to act amidst uncertainty,” he said.
He credited India’s economic reforms under Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh, particularly the liberalisation of 1991, as pivotal. “Devaluation, deregulation, and globalisation — these three words redefined India,” he noted. “While many companies struggled, it was a moment of reinvention for first-generation entrepreneurs.”
Adani spoke of transforming the salt flats of Mundra into one of India’s most significant infrastructure hubs — now home to the country’s largest multi-cargo port, the world’s largest private thermal power plant, and extensive solar and logistics networks.
Looking ahead, he announced the Adani Group’s commitment to invest nearly $100 billion in energy, infrastructure, and logistics over the next five years. “We are building the spine that carries 1.4 billion dreams,” Adani concluded.
