Why Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani were targeted in protests over Modi’s farm laws

Protesting farmers say PM Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms will remove state support and allow the billionaires to enter farming – which they deny

The protests have revived the debate on the cosy relationship between Modi and the tycoons, whose combined fortunes rose by US$41 billion last year

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Activists burn effigies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani during a protest against agricultural reforms. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:00pm, 17 Jan 2021Updated: 5:05pm, 17 Jan 2021

Two of India’s richest men have landed in an unlikely controversy over farming laws, becoming targets of protesters who allege the tycoons have benefited from their close links to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

For weeks, tens of thousands of farmers have camped outside the nation’s capital, demanding the withdrawal of recently passed legislation they say, without evidence, was designed to allow billionaires such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani to enter farming. The tycoons say they have no such interest. More than 1,500 phone towers of Ambani’s wireless carrier were vandalised last month and some farmers called for a boycott of their businesses.

The fight between the government and the farmers has revived the debate on what Modi’s critics call cosy nexus between the magnates and the popular leader – accusations they all have denied.

The protests, one of Modi’s toughest political challenges yet, follow an eventful 2020 when the combined fortunes of Ambani and Adani grew by almost US$41 billion, even as millions of Indians lost their jobs to the pandemic that pummelled the US$2.9 trillion economy.

“Everyone loves to hate the rich in times of economic stress,” said Sanjiv Bhasin, a director at investment management firm IIFL Securities in Mumbai. “People are venting out their anger at social disparity. It is indeed a new business risk to these large conglomerates. But all the noise will settle when the economy starts growing.”