Indian billionaires, including Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, saw their fortunes drop on Tuesday as India’s stock markets took a hit following the national election results. With nearly two-thirds of the votes counted, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads in 243 of the 543 seats contested, falling short of the majority mark of 272 and hinting at a potential alliance government with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex Index plummeted nearly 6% during late afternoon trading on Tuesday, a stark contrast to the previous day when stocks surged in response to exit polls indicating a landslide victory for Modi. Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest person and India’s second-richest individual, saw his fortune drop from nearly $100 billion to $79.2 billion as his conglomerate’s publicly listed firms faced a significant sell-off.
Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani Group, was down 19% to $35.3 (₹2,950) in late afternoon trading, while other firms within the conglomerate, including Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Ports, also experienced declines ranging from 19-22%. Similarly, Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest person, saw his net worth decrease by $2.6 billion to $106.9 billion in light of the market sell-off.
The Adani Group’s listed companies collectively lost $45 billion in stock market value on Tuesday, as the overall Indian stock market saw a decrease of $386 billion. Other Indian billionaires, such as Savitri Jindal and Kumar Mangalam Birla, also experienced significant drops in their net worth amidst the market turmoil.
The Indian national elections, which spanned six weeks, ended on Saturday with exit polls initially predicting a landslide win for Modi and the BJP. However, the actual results showed the ruling party falling short of these expectations, potentially necessitating alliances with other parties to form a government. The opposition coalition, known as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), saw a notable increase in seats compared to the 2019 elections.
All eyes are now on potential coalition partners for the BJP, including Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, to see if they will align with the ruling party to secure the required number of lawmakers. The unexpected outcomes of the election results have led to uncertainty in the Indian markets and raised questions about the future direction of the country’s political landscape.
