"World's Best Reserve Of Gold, Diamond In India": Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal At NDTV World Summit

Vedanta Group Founder and Chairman Anil Agarwal on Friday said that India holds some of the world's richest reserves of gold and diamond but has yet to tap its full potential. 

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit on the theme 'Building Bharat: Purpose, Profit, Planet', Agarwal highlighted the country's vast natural wealth.

"I can tell you one thing, I'm a geologist, again I'm saying the world best reserve is in India for gold and diamond. We don't produce even a kilo...," Agarwal said.

#NDTVWorldSummit | "The world's best reserve in gold and diamond is in India" : Anil Agarwal (@AnilAgarwal_Ved), Chairman & Founder, Vedanta @TamannaInamdar #NDTVWorldSummit2025 pic.twitter.com/dqIcb7kTYJ

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 17, 2025

Recounting his childhood days, Agarwal shared, "I am just a boy from Bihar who didn't know anything. Khali tamannayein thi ki kuch karna hai (I just had a wish to do something). I  never sat on a plane or a double-decker bus. These were all dreams. I am originally from Rajasthan who later moved to Bihar. We, the people of Rajasthan, went to every corner of the country. After that, I grew up in Patna. I have gone to Bombay," he said.

#NDTVWorldSummit | "I am just a boy from Bihar, just had dreams" : Anil Agarwal (@AnilAgarwal_Ved), Chairman & Founder, Vedanta@TamannaInamdar #NDTVWorldSummit2025 pic.twitter.com/FpSZ50sXJF

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 17, 2025

Reflecting on his long-standing belief in India's underground wealth, Agarwal said, "I have kept remembering only one thing for the past 30 years, the only way forward is below the ground, critical matters, oil and gas. Today, nothing can happen without India's presence. I always believe that the world has come up because of 'below the ground' (digging)."

Vedanta Group is one of the largest and diversified natural resources groups globally. Born in Bihar, Anil Agarwal, at the age of 19,  left his town for Mumbai, India's commercial capital, with only a tiffin box, bedding, and dreams in his eyes.

He wished to start his own company but could barely make ends meet. For the next 10 years, he tried his luck with nine different businesses but all of them failed. However, he did not give up. He founded the Vedanta Group in 1976 and has over 45 years of entrepreneurial & business experience.

Under his leadership, Vedanta grew from an Indian domestic miner to a global natural resources major, with a world-class portfolio of assets in oil and gas, zinc, silver, aluminium, copper, nickel, iron and steel, and power, all of which generate strong cash flows. Vedanta is now venturing into semiconductor and display glass business with the ambition of creating a world-beating electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India.