Will Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, get even richer in 2020?

Jan 31 , 2020

India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, looks set to enjoy a very interesting 2020 ahead. Photo: AP

From taking on Jeff Bezos’ Amazon with his online retail platform JioMart to son Anant’s wedding to Radhika Merchan and emerging as an unlikely fashion icon, the year ahead looks good for India’s richest man – who will surely only get richer?

With a net worth of close to US$60 billion, Mukesh Ambani is India’s richest man and the patriarch of Asia’s richest family. He maintains a relatively low profile compared to his wife, Nita Ambani, and children, Isha, Anant and Akash Ambani, who are all heavily chased by the Indian press for their fashionable and unapologetically lavish lifestyle.

But with his recently-announced plan to challenge Amazon for a slice of India’s e-commerce ecosystem, Ambani has been receiving a lot more publicity. Which makes us wonder: what will 2020 look like for this business magnate?

1. Ambani will spend more time online

… Well, in the business sense, at least.

A bulk of Ambani’s focus is now set on conquering India’s e-commerce ecosystem with his new online shopping portal JioMart. More than 50,000 grocery products will be accessible on this platform and deliverable to the areas of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan.

Ambani’s increasing digital presence does not just stop at Jiomart’s introduction. The mogul, who also owns giant conglomerate Reliance Industries, recently set headlines ablaze when he attended a meeting with none other than Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos during the latter’s three-day visit to India this month. (Also in attendance: Sunil Mittal, Sanjiv Mehta and Adi Godrej, to name a few.)

We all know how fancy these high-profile meetings can get, so stay tuned for more digital coverage of Ambani’s high-profile business encounters in the near future.

2. He is set to redefine India’s digital retail sphere

India’s growing e-commerce market is expected to hit US$600 billion in value by 2027. Naturally, Ambani wants in. Challenging Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart online services with JioMart is not his only effort to dominate the ecosystem.